A welcome return to one of our favourite eateries – The Saxon Mill in Warwick! ?
Category:Friends
Beckworth’s beckons…
Those from around these parts will already know of Beckworth’s – or to give it its full title: Beckworth Emporium. For once, Emporium sounds like an accurate description! For those of my readers outside the area, think old-school supermarket plus an expansive (but not expensive) garden centre, all topped-off with a rather sizeable eatery. Oh, …
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Film: Eternals (2021)
The movie juggernaut that is Marvel Studios, thunders on with their 26th production – “Eternals“. For reasons that I can’t quite recall, I didn’t get around to seeing this at the cinema when it was first released in the UK on the 5th of November last year. And that’s quite rare for me – I’m …
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Return to The Wheatsheaf
Pantomime (Jack and the Beanstalk) 2022
With 2021 behind us “(Oh no it isn’t!”)… it’s Panto time! 😉 Janet and Jo picked us up and after a late breakfast at The Old Forge, and we headed for Milton Keynes Theatre. We haven’t been to a Pantomime, we think, for about 15 years. Back then, the cast would likely to have been …
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Film: The Matrix: Resurrections (2021)
I’m back at the local Odeon with Jo and Janet to see ‘The Matrix: Resurrections‘. I loved the two original Matrix movies (even if I didn’t fully understand what was always going on – I sensed where it was all going!), and this promises more of the same – but whether it was any good …
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New Year’s Eve 2021
New Year’s Eve Here we are at Carol’s with Jo and Janet to see in the New Year – what fun! 😁👍 It’s certainly a lot different to last year at this time when we were making last-minute preparations to spend a few days in Suffolk – and because of you-know-what had to cancel at …
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Christmas 2021
How was your Christmas? For us, as I begin penning this during the week leading up to the big day, I really didn’t think we would STILL be worrying about Coronavirus! Why worry? The dreaded Omicron variant was spreading and there was the potential for the Government to lock us all down again! Almost ‘right …
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Film: The King’s Man (2021)
Our Christmas movie! With Ralph and Karen, we headed off to Cineworld in Castleford to see The King’s Man. SPOILER-FREE! Any good? Well, we’d seen both the original Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Kingsman: the Golden Circle (2017) – and they were quite entertaining and loosely based around the comic book series that debuted …
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The Costello Christmas Meal (2021)
What with our 10th Anniversary Party still ringing in our ears from last Saturday, tonight we headed off to John & Trish’s for their annual Christmas meal! As usual, most of our close neighbourly friends were invited – and we all had a great time! Sean & Kellie and Conor were also able to join …
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Film: West Side Story (2021)
It probably wouldn’t have been my first choice, but all the reviews suggested that Steven Spielberg had done a fantastic job with this production. So, we headed off to the local Odeon (with masks!) and Jo and Janet to catch the 1pm performance. Based around the 1961 version, it was slightly longer, clocking-in at a …
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Rosi’s 60th Birthday Celebrations
We headed off to Rosi’s tonight to help her celebrate her 60th Birthday. We arrived for 6.30 (Paul and Karen gave us a lift after the weather deteriorated in the afternoon, meaning we didn’t fancy the walk). The gang was all there – Tom, Julie, Trish, John, Paul, Karen with Dave on Bar Duties! 👍👍 …
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First Visit: The George, Great Oxendon
We took a drive to The George, Great Oxendon today, picking up Paul & Sue along the way. They know it well, but for us, it was our first visit. Wow! First impressions were excellent. The unassuming entrance gave way to a very tasteful interior. It all looked very tasteful without being too over-the-top – …
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Film: Dune (1984)
It’s Monday Movie Night here! 👍👍 Having seen the new production of ‘Dune’ at the cinema recently, we all agreed it would be good to go back and watch the original that hit the cinemas back in December 1984. I recall seeing it (somewhere!) when it was first out, and by the end, came out …
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First Visit: King’s Head at Wadenhoe
It was off to the King’s Head in the village of Wadenhoe (population 244) to catch up with long-time friends, Mick & Jane. We’ve not been here before and in kinder weather, there are some nice walks nearby, so we might try that when it’s a lot drier underfoot and a bit warmer! We were …
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Film: Bond 25 – No Time to Die
It’s movie time for us again! 👍👍 Ahh, “No Time to Die“ (aka “Bond 25”), we’ve been expecting you (for quite a while, actually!). After five postponements because of you-know-what, it was finally here! I don’t intend to give away the details of the film here, it’s more of a reflection, so you’re safe to …
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First Visit: Shires Inn
It was a drive into unchartered territory for us two today as we headed with neighbours David & Valerie for the village of Peatling Parva (population 181) and The Shires Inn and Restaurant. The occasion? A belated birthday lunch for David and me! It was Ann and my first visit, but our dining companions knew …
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Ten for a Bank Holiday Lunch!
This was ambitious, even by our standards! Ten of our neighbours here for a full-blown three-course Sunday long lunch! In addition to Ann’s legendary skills in the kitchen, I had a go at ‘something’ (always worrying when I’ve got a whisk in my hand!). Motivated by my mantra: chocolate in everything, I created a ‘mystery …
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Exotic Dining in Kettering
To be honest, you don’t often see the words: exotic, dining and Kettering in the same sentence, but on this occasion, the title should be read literally! Cunningly concealed above the vacated town-centre Argos is: The Exotic Dining – the perfect location if you fancy a REALLY good curry! (Pedantically speaking it’s actual Indian and …
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Days Out: The Ashmolean Revisited
We drove to Oxford today to meet up with long-time friends Chris & Louise – it was a suitable halfway house for all parties. Being great fans of The Ashmolean (having been there in November 2011, March 2012, September 2013, March 2014 and May 2018) we agreed to meet at Peartree Park and Ride and …
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Warner Weekend 2021
We’re off on our annual Warner Weekend with our ‘Northants Nutter’ friends, Paul, Sue, Geoff and Rhonda. This is our third visit to Warner’s since 2019, and they’ve all been great fun, with plenty to keep us occupied and offering great value for money. This year, our destination is Warner’s Gunton Hall nestled between Great …
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Pub Addict!
Well, not really! But visiting the same Pub – the Olde Victoria – within the same week does sound kind of excessive! OK, we weren’t there for the beer, but we were there for the food and company! 😀 On this occasion, catching up with friends, Richard and Pauline (who we haven’t seen since December …
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Saturday (Stuffed!)
I don’t think we’ve ever had a Saturday like this! It was pretty much wall-to-wall eating for the whole day! Tough life ehh!!! 👍 First stop was a celebratory lunch at Rushton Hall with our good friend Chris A in honour of his recent birthday. It looked like the weather was going to stay dry, …
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Lunch: Northants Nutters Reassemble at The Olde Victoria
It’s been quite a while since we were last here! Ann and I met the rest of ‘The Northants Nutters’ aka Paul, Sue, Geoff, Rhonda at The Olde Victoria for lunch today. And good to see that the Menu was as enticing as ever! 👍 The food and service, as always, was spot-on, and we …
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Theatre: “Memories of the Musicals”
It’s theatre time again for us! Today, we headed to Kilworth and their outdoor Theatre to see a very special production called: Memories of the Musicals. Billed as… “a full-length show featuring the very best songs from every one of the nineteen musicals produced at Kilworth House Theatre since the theatre opened in 2007. Six …
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Pub Lunch: Queen’s Head at Bulwick
Super Sociable Saturday and Sunday!
It was one of those fantastic weekends where we spent 99% of the time eating, drinking and enjoying the company of good friends! It’s a tough life!!! 😀 Saturday The morning was spent preparing stuff and having a final tidy-up in readiness for our guests. Just after midday, Ralph and Karen joined us, and after …
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Film: Black Widow
It’s been a while since we last went to the cinema (December, last year, when we saw Wonder Woman 1984). That visit was to the local Odeon, but it’s been even longer (August, 2020 – almost a year) since we went to the shinier, newer, Cineworld, here at Rushden Lakes to see Christopher Nolan’s mind-boggling …
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Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest at Tolethorpe Hall
We headed for Tolethorpe Hall near Stamford today to see the latest production of The Importance of Being Earnest by the Stamford Shakespeare Company. We haven’t been to Tolethorpe since July, 2015, where we saw Henry V – quite a while! And going further back in time, we last saw a previous production of the …
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Return (of the return) to Saxon Mill
We returned to the Saxon Mill in Warwick today to meet up with Alan and Mags (Ian & Ann couldn’t make it). This is now becoming our most-visited out-of-Kettering eatery. To date, the food and service has always been top-notch – but today was a little different. It was certainly very busy when we sat …
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