Ahh, that’s more like it! It felt like ‘pre-Covid days’, socialising with our neighbours over a meal!! 👍 With all the necessary COVID rules strictly adhered to, Paul and Karen invited (just) a few of us round to theirs tonight for a meal and to watch the soccer – we were there to see England …
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Category:Friends
Tring Thing!
I caught up with Angela today at the King’s Arms in Tring. The venue was chosen because it was roughly halfway between us. I thought I knew Tring, but as I approached the town, it all felt very unfamiliar! What a lovely town though! – very leafy, a nice parade of shops and where the …
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The JS Gang Reunion 2021
Nicki’s Here! 😍
Nicki (sans Richard) joined us for the weekend. We haven’t seen her (properly) since October last year and it was great to catch-up. Saturday Today was all about celebrating (last) Christmas where we would have got together under normal circumstances, but didn’t, because of you-know-what! Ann planned a full Christmas Dinner and we invited Jo …
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Social, Social!
Today, was one of those days where things were ‘full-on’! 😏😏 All good things though, as it was 100% social!! The Clark’s (Roy, Susan and Lauren) visited us for lunch where Ann had produced miracles in the kitchen with a choice of two starters, two mains and two desserts. Unusually for me, I didn’t take …
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The Look of… Kilworth
It was a welcome return to Kilworth House this evening to see Dusty Springfield in concert. It wasn’t THE Dusty (obviously!) but a darn good impression! The event had been postponed from October last year, then again in April, because of you-know-what, but tonight was (finally!) the night!!! The performance was called: Delightfully Dusty. Tonight, …
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Kedlestone Hall with Dennis and Sandra
We drove up to Kedlestone Hall, near Ashbourne today, to meet up with fellow lovers of ‘days-out’, Dennis and Sandra. We’re building up quite a list of destinations since we started this with them back in 2017. Hardwick Hall (August 2020)Castle Howard (December 2019)The Royal Armouries Museum (March 2019)Bolsover Castle (October 2018)Belton House (May 2018)York …
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Normality! – Dinner INSIDE in a Restaurant!
With David acting as chauffeur, the four of us (David, Valerie, Ann and I) made a welcome return to The Palmichael tonight. Last time we were there as a foursome was back in December last year although back then, the Coronavirus restrictions meant we couldn’t all share a table and had to make do with …
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It’s a Hugs life!
A significant day and hugging is back on the menu! Why? Today, we entered Step 3 of the Government’s roadmap out of Lockdown. 😁 …and talking of menus, Jo and Janet picked us up and we headed off to the newly revamped Beckworth’s Emporium for one of their legendary breakfast experiences. The girls ate light, …
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More Pi anyone?
As all of us (in the UK, anyway) escape the clutches of the pandemic restrictions, I’m in the mood to re-stimulate my grey cells (cellS?) 😁 and get my brain back into gear! I’m going to dive into the world of the Raspberry Pi! For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, the …
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Return to The Palmichael (2020)
It felt almost like a return to normality tonight, as we took the short drive to The Palmichael joining David and Valerie to celebrate a recent birthday. The last time we were there was for Janet’s retirement ‘do’ back in March 2018 and a lot has happened to restaurants since then — especially since Coronavirus restrictions …
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The Greenhouse Effect
Letting me loose on any DIY task is always a risk! 😮 And recently was one of those (ahem!) ‘opportunities’ to demonstrate my talents (or lack of them!). Specifically, Ann’s new mini-greenhouse. It looked splendid in the pictures online, but like most things these days, it arrived (from those very nice people at Access Garden …
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First Visit: The Bell Inn, Finedon
It was our monthly eat-out with neighbours David and Valerie tonight. I say ‘monthly’, but that’s been interrupted of late by you-know-what. …anyway, it was good to get back into the routine! 😋 Based on Valerie’s recommendation, which in turn was based on the August 2020 article in the Daily Telegraph by William Sitwell accompanied …
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Return to the Olde Victoria
Nicki arrived last night and slept over. After a lazy morning, the theme continued with a welcome return to the Olde Victoria – and a lazy lunch! 😁 We haven’t been here since February, and it was good to be back enjoying the excellent service and yummy menu – you just can’t go wrong here! …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 8, Seven Days a Highlander!
Well, we’ve just spent the past seven days in Scotland. The first half was a bit ‘off the beaten track’ with friends in Gartly, Aberdeenshire and then we drove to Inverness’s largest hotel – The Kingsmills – for the remainder. Not sure if that makes me a (temporary) ‘Highlander’ or not!? Although we’ve been to …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 7(8): My Birthday 2020
Thanks for all your good wishes, cards and gifts! They’re mostly all back at home and I’ll enjoy them when we’re back tomorrow! Here we are then, in Bonnie Scotland, on the occasion of my 64th. It’s another day of discovery today and we’ve got two locations in mind:- Nairn – a well-known seaside town …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 6(8)
My last day of ’63-ness’ today, and we’re off to Loch Ness! Given our complete failure to spot any dolphins during this trip, I don’t hold out much hope for an encounter with Nessie! KEY FACTS ABOUT THE LOCH22 miles longAverage depth of 433 feetMaximum depth of 744.6 feet1.8 cubic miles of water1 monster We’re …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 5(8)
We have a grand plan today! We’re off to the large land-mass to the north of us that is the Black Isle – perversely named because it’s actually not an island and not particularly black! We won’t have time to cover it all, but we want to give it a damn good thrashing! Surrounded on …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 4(8)
Well, that’s the first half of our Scottish break over – and it passed really quickly! After a relaxing and VERY enjoyable few days with Richard and Lynn in Gartly, we’re off to our next (and final) ‘home’ for the final four-days – the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness. In some respects, our leaving was perfect …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 3(8)
It’s our last full day here before we drive to Inverness tomorrow – and we’ve a busy one planned (nothing new there ehh?!) After yesterday’s adventure that took us to the rather beautiful areas of Banff, Portsoy and Cullen (ending with a drive through next-door Buckie) today, we’re soaking-up more of the area to the …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 2(8)
I was up early, mainly down to me setting the clock an hour fast! The weather forecast looks promising (although not quite as warm as it predicted yesterday) and so on Richard’s advice, we’re heading for the Moray Coast about a 40 minute drive from base-camp. 11.15am: First stop was Banff, a small town and …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 1(8)
We always go away for my birthday and this year is no exception. Although the official celebration is still a week away, we thought we’d start early! What a difference a year makes! Twelve months ago for my celebration, we were in central London, shoulder-to-shoulder on a sweaty tube-train! This year, we’re heading in completely …
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Film: TENET
Here we are then, my first visit to the cinema since before lockdown. And what better movie to blow the cobwebs away than Christopher Nolan’s latest epic – TENET? Nolan is famous for his dislike of green-screen and CGI, so we were looking forward not only to the story, but the ‘set pieces’ too. Apparently, …
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The IKEA Experience
As part of our regular dose of ‘retail therapy’, we headed over to IKEA in Bletchley today. Trish and Sean joined us, with a view to them getting some ideas for Sean’s new place in Burton Latimer – and maybe bag a bargain! I can’t remember the last time we shopped here, but judging by …
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Hardwick Hall with Dennis and Sandra
9.55am: We drove the (just under) 90-mile journey to Hardwick Hall today, to meet up with fellow lovers-of-old-buildings and all-things National Trust, Dennis and Sandra. We last visited here back in October 2010 for a Murder-Mystery evening with Ralph and Karen (BTW, the Butler DIDN’T do it!). Hardwick is a spectacular Elizabethan house filled with …
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Weekend with Ralph and Karen
Friday 11.35am: Ralph and Karen arrived after a trouble-free journey from theirs. With hardly a moment to catch their breath, we whisked them off to The Old Forge for a pre-arranged lunch at 12.20. We hadn’t been here for a while (July 2012 according to my Blog, but I definitely think we’d been more recently), …
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Warner Weekend 2020
Yes, it’s that time of year again! We’ve got our annual long weekend planned with our Warner ‘Brothers and Sisters’ – Geoff, Rhonda, Paul and Sue – aka ‘The Northants Nutters‘! Last year – our first get together – took us to Warner’s Littlecote House, this time, we’re in Herefordshire and staying at Warner’s rather …
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Return to The Saxon Mill
The Saxon Mill is rapidly becoming our most regular restaurant-of-choice when meeting our friends ‘from the West’ – and today was no exception! (Either there or The Lamport Swan). The last time we met up with ‘the Westerners’ (Ian, Ann, Mags and Alan) for one of our regular three-monthly catch-ups was back in September last …
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First Visit – Salvatore Ristorante Italiano
Bev and Julie recommended we take a trip over to Finedon to sample the delights of Salvatore Ristorante Italiano. It opened in May, 2019, but we’d not heard of it. We picked-up our dining-chums just after 7.10pm for our 7.30 booking and battled though the pouring rain heading for nearby Finedon. If the restaurant was …
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Valentine Meal 2020
It’s Valentine’s Day!! Usually, either I cook the meal, Ann cooks the meal, or we share cooking duties with David and Valerie and get together as a foursome. So, with cards, flowers and gifts on display, by way of a change for this special day, the four of us left our kitchens behind and headed …
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