Christmas Catchup – Steve and Helen

Unbelievable! It’s only the 10th of December and this is already our FOURTH Christmas meal! Tough life, ehh?!? 😁 At this rate, I’m sure there must be a real danger that we’ll both turn into Turkeys before the 25th! Gobble, gobble! 🦃🍗 Today’s venue of choice? The very popular (and very nicely appointed) The George …
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Our Third Christmas Meal of 2023

We headed round to John and Trish’s tonight for their legendary Christmas Meal. It’s usually our first of the festive period, but this year, we’d had the Northants Nutters round at ours last Sunday for an early Christmas get-together, and then met up with Dennis & Sandra on Thursday for more festive fare – so …
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Christmas Catchup – Ralph & Karen

Here we are at the Quorndon Fox in Loughborough. We were last here on New Year’s day in 2021 with Jo, Janet and Carol. Today, more of the same – ‘a get together with mates’ – with a long overdue catchup with Ralph and Karen. Getting there was another frustrating experience, where the M1 came …
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Doddington Hall with Dennis and Sandra

It’s another of our cultural days out with mates, Dennis & Sandra. We’ve built up quite a list over the years… International Bomber Command (September 2023)Southwell (March 2023)Chatsworth House (November 2022)Belvoir Castle (August 2022)Kedlestone Hall (May 2021)Hardwick Hall (August 2020)Castle Howard (December 2019)The Royal Armouries Museum (March 2019)Bolsover Castle (October 2018)Belton House (May 2018)York (February …
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The Pheasant – Revisited

David, Valerie, Ann and I returned to The Pheasant in Keyston today for Sunday Lunch. Since we moved to our current home in 1996, The Pheasant had been our ‘go-to’ quality eatery around these parts. In the intervening years though, we’d discovered plenty of alternatives (Northamptonshire’s well served!) and for no other reason apart from …
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Return to The Old Bridge Hotel

It’s been a really long while, since I was last here at The Old Bridge Hotel & Restaurant in Huntingdon. A conservative estimate would suggest that it was the early 90s when I was working with one of my first clients – Nokia. Thirty-or-so years on, and we were here to catch up with Steve …
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Supper for Six – Again!

Not content with ‘Supper for Six‘ last Saturday, tonight we were planning something similar, this time for Bev, Jules, Jo and Janet. Unfortunately, Janet went down with the dreaded Covid a few days before, and sadly, quickly followed by Jo! 😒😒 So, we ended up with just ‘Food for Four!’ 🤔 And there was obviously …
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International Bomber Command Centre with Dennis and Sandra

Yes, it’s another of our cultural days out with Dennis and Sandra. Today, we headed for the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. The International Bomber Command Centre is a memorial and a series of exhibits telling the story of RAF Bomber Command. Bomber Command suffered extensive losses of aircraft and crews during the Bombing …
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Lunch with the Girls

Today, we invited Jo, Janet, Carol and recently widowed Chris around to ours for Lunch. We were hoping that the glorious weather this past week would continue, and we could eat outside – maybe for the final opportunity this year! 🙄. The country has experienced five consecutive days of 30-degree temperatures in the week just …
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Ruby Do – Two!

Our first Do of the Ruby variety was for David & Rosi back in July, last year, but today, we’re slightly further afield, and off to Mick & Jane‘s to help celebrate their recent Ruby Anniversary (last Wednesday). It was a very relaxed affair around at theirs, where we had the chance to get together …
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Concert: The Eagles by Candlelight

Here we are with David & Valerie having taken the thirty-mile drive to the iconic Peterborough Cathedral. No, not for a spot of spiritual guidance, nor a choral recital – instead, it was (almost) The Eagles in Concert – but with a twist! Tonight was a performance of their music by West End singers and …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Top Gun: Maverick (again!)

Well, I think that’s a record (even for us, as big Tom Cruise fans!). We first saw Top Gun – Maverick with Jo & Janet just after it first came out (June 2022). Next, it was at one of our TV Dinners with David & Valerie (February 2023) and more recently, at Boughton House (May …
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Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 5

Monday 14th August Morning all! 👋 Whoosh! That’s passed very quickly! It’s our final day (Day 5) where, for the past five days, the Northants Nutters® have been ‘all at sea’ courtesy of P&O and the good ship, Aurora! We’ve taken in Hamburg and Zeebrugge along the way and the weather has, overall, been very …
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Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 4

Sunday 13th August What you may have missed…Thursday 10th: Day 1 – Leaving SouthamptonFriday 11th: Day 2 – All at SeaSaturday 12th: Day 3 – Loving Lübeck (and Hamburg!) Phew! A busy one yesterday, where, as a result, ONE of us, is feeling a bit tender this morning! 🥴 (clue: it’s NOT Ann). It’s now …
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Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 3

Saturday 12th August Guten Morgen! It’s Day 3! The Northants Nutters are ‘all at sea’ courtesy of P&O and the good ship Aurora! Yes, we’re in Germany – Hamburg Docks to be precise. It’s part of our five-nighter, taking in Hamburg and Zeebrugge and we’re here overnight – but only briefly, setting sail at 5.30am …
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Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 2

Friday 11th August Good morning all! It’s Day 2! The Northants Nutters are ‘all at sea’ courtesy of P&O and the good ship Aurora! We’re enjoying a five-nighter, taking in Hamburg and Zeebrugge. Missed yesterday’s Post? – Day 1 click HERE Breakfast! There’s a lot of choice here for HOW you take your breakfast on …
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Northants Nutters at Sea – Day 1

Thursday 10th August Good morning Landlubbers! It’s Day 1 and the Northants Nutters (aka Paul & Sue, Geoff & Rhonda and us two) are heading for the wet stuff, courtesy of P&O and the good ship Aurora! Our friends, Richard and Nicki have also booked the same Cruise and were later sworn-in as ‘Honorary Nutters®’!👍😉 …
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Theatre: Hairspray (2023)

Off to our favourite West-End-Theatre-that’s-not in-the-West-End… Kilworth House Theatre! Well, it is west of Kettering! 😉 Kilworth House Theatre? I must admit, I’d never heard of Kilworth Theatre before we moved to Northamptonshire. Since our discovery, we’ve been coming here pretty much every year to see their latest production. The Theatre is unique in that …
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First Visit: The Bell, Alderminster

Yes, it’s that time again! Our three-monthly catch-up, over a Shandy (or three!) with ex-business colleagues (and great friends), Ian and Mags, together with their respective other halves, Ann and Alan. It’s been a while (January?), as Ian was unwell the last time we were due to meet, but we were soon back into the …
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Return to ‘332’

Today, together with my first boss – Ken Barden – we returned to the location of my very first ‘proper’ job: Sainsbury’s, Central Croydon aka ‘Store 332′. The reason? We’d heard that Sainsbury’s HQ had taken the commercial decision to close down the store permanently in a few months’ time 🤔 and we both felt …
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Film: Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part 1 (2023)

Off to see the 7th instalment of the Mission Impossible franchise. As an extra treat, Jo, Janet and Ann and I drove over to Rushden Lakes to enjoy the superior sound and picture quality. Official Poster Mission Creep? The runtime for this one is a mighty 2 hours 43 minutes. Mission Brief The IMF team …
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