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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Category:Friends
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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Nicki’s Here!
It’s that time again – we’re catching up with Ann’s good friend, Nicki! Unfortunately, it was just Nicki, this time, as Richard had a work event to go to. No matter, the girls had plenty of catching-up to do – and I just kept the teas and coffees flowing, together with some Orange & Cranberry …
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Taste of India
No, not another one of our holiday Posts from the other side of the world! 🙄 Tonight, we returned to Taste of India in Bridge Street, Rothwell. Gosh! The last time we were here was in February 2012 (also with Paul and Sue!) — and before that, way back in 2005! Where does the time …
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London Bound!
Off to London today with David & Valerie to watch the ‘Beating Retreat’ performance or to give its official title: The Household Division Beating Retreat. We’ve never seen this event before and we’re looking forward to ‘a Military Musical Spectacular, on Horse Guards Parade, London‘. This event has evolved over the years and is now …
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The Olde Victoria
Off to our ‘Local’ today to catch up with long-time friends Richard & Pauline. The food and service has always been good in all the (many) years we’ve eaten here – and it was great to be back! 👍👍. Burgers all around today and most of us even squeezed in a Pud too! Thanks for …
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RIP: Pete Murdin
Today, we attended Pete’s Funeral – a long-time friend for us both. Pete hadn’t been well for a while now, in and out of hospital on multiple occasions and because of that, we hadn’t been to see either Pete (or Chris) for a while – we think, pre-Covid was our most recent get-together. The Service, …
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RIP: Peter Juniper
Today, I (and a lot of others) said their final goodbyes to Peter. The service was held at Bluebell Cemetery in Halstead at 11.15 on a gloriously warm day. I met the current Chairman of the OCA, Cortland Fransella, in the car park and we grabbed a cuppa and sat outside reflecting on the man …
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Film: Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse (2023)
A paradise for hyphen-lovers and not to be confused with ‘Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse‘ (that we caught up with last week on DVD)! It wasn’t really Ann’s thing, so Jo and I headed to the local Odeon for the 7.20pm showing. Official Trailers There’s a load, but here are the first two! What’s the story? …
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Steve visits the Gym!
Off to the Capital today – one of my less frequent trips into London these days! To think, I used to do this pretty much on a daily basis when I was working!!! 😲. What a difference, 10 years in retirement makes!!! But ME in the GYM??? Surely some mistake! Read on! 😉 The reason …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse
It was another of our ‘Dinner-on-a-tray-with-a-movie-night! We invited Jo round (Janet’s away in Kos) to watch Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse on DVD. Released in 2018, and with a respectable runtime of just under two hours (1h 56m), it was worth a rewatch as it’s the indirect prequel to: Spider-man – ACROSS the Spider-verse that’s just …
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Late May Bank Holiday 2023
Well, the weather certainly is improving! It’s a Bank Holiday too! Surely that’s a mistake!!! 😉😎☀️🌞 Friday (26th) It got off to a good start trotting off to nearby Boughton House for an outdoor showing of Top Gun: Maverick. Saturday (27th) A lazy start to the day but with some last-minute preparation ready for great …
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Film: Top Gun – Maverick (outdoors!)
What a great start to the Bank Holiday!! So good, we’ve already seen this one twice! Surely, this is the best movie in a long, long time! So, this was our THIRD viewing of Top Gun: Maverick having it seen it for the first time last June and then as a TV dinner back in …
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The Gang’s all here!
It’s that time of year again! The weather is improving and it’s time to ‘get the Band back together’. In our case, not so much ‘the Band‘, but the Trainers! And those Trainers were the members of my Department from back in the 80s. We’ve kept in touch ever since – and today was the …
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A Mini Adventure
A boys’ day out for me! John C and I took a drive to the Mini production line in Cowley! 👍👍 These days, early departures for me are rare, so leaving ours at the unearthly hour of 7.30am felt like a bit of a stretch. It was going to be worth it though! We arrived …
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Sedgebrook Hall Revisited!
A long overdue catchup with ‘old mucker’ John Cullwick at Sedgebrook Hall to discuss the marketing of his latest book: ‘Our Hannah’. The last time we saw each other was, I think, five years ago also here at Sedgebrook Hall! Today, I had the opportunity to meet his daughter Ellie too! We had a really …
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Film: John Wick, Chapter 4 (2023)
Off to the local Odeon this afternoon with Jo and Janet to see the fourth (and final?) Chapter of the John Wick movie franchise. Imaginatively titled ‘John Wick Chapter 4‘, it stars ‘man of few words’ Keanu Reeves who we’d last seen in Matrix Resurrections back in January, 2022. (and what a pile of pretentious …
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Southwell with Dennis and Sandra
It was another one of our cultural days out with good friends, Dennis & Sandra today (our 13th!). We’ve built up quite a list since 2017, and today we added Southwell and National Trust’s Workhouse (above). Chatsworth House (November 2022)Belvoir Castle (August 2022) Kedlestone Hall (May 2021)Hardwick Hall (August 2020)Castle Howard (December 2019)The Royal Armouries …
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Thunderbowl 3
Today was our third visit to Kettering’s Thunderbowl to show-off our Bowling talents. Paul and Sue joined us to add to the competitive atmosphere! In spite of the very wet weather, a lot of other people had the same ideas as us today, and it was a lot busier than we remember it. In fact, …
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Birthday Girl 2023
Another year and another Birthday – as Ann celebrated her special day today! It was a day with friends, food, cards and gift! 8.35am: After a quick ‘Birthday Bacon Sarny’, Ann began opening her presents and cards. Soon after, the ritual was briefly interrupted (in a good way) by a surprise video call from Nicki …
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65, not out!
It was John C’s 65th Birthday last Monday – a perfect excuse for a belated neighbourly get-together tonight! We picked up Paul & Karen and arrived just before 6.30. Everyone else was already there by the time we arrived – and we were all soon in a party mood! 👍😁 Yes, pretty much a full …
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Scones, Trains, and Automobiles!
Well, that’s a first! We’re off for Afternoon Tea in a railway carriage that doesn’t go anywhere (No! NOT another rail strike day!!!) 😁 In another first, we had snow today! The first for two years!! Our visit to ‘Carriages of Cambridge‘ was a Christmas gift from our great friends, Jo & Janet, and we’d …
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Film: Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
It’s been a while, but Marvel Studios is back to kick off ‘Phase 5’ with their 31st super-hero cinema release. If SciFi/Sci Fantasy isn’t really your thing, look away now! For the rest of us, here’s a spoiler-free review of the latest blockbuster from Marvel Studios! But hang on a minute, Phase 5..? 31 movies..? …
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Party Animals
We headed off to our old stomping ground of Peterborough tonight for long-time friends Mick and Jane to celebrate their 60ths! Our Party invitations seem less frequent as each year passes, but we were especially looking forward to this one, as we’ve known Mick and Jane for what seems like forever! We last saw them …
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ATMs Reunited
A timely reunion today (again) for three ex-Sainsbury ATMs (that’s ex Area Training Managers!) — Paul, Geoff and yours truly! Today, given our pensionable status, the eatery of choice was the geographically convenient for all of us (and wallet-friendly) ‘Hobson’s Choice, just off junction 9. Boy! It was busy and for the first time ever, …
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The Late, Late Christmas Dinner!
We don’t need much of an excuse to catch up with friends (as many of these Posts here will confirm!). “The Late, Late Christmas Dinner!” put a convenient label on today’s proceedings, brought about because we weren’t able to see Nicki over Christmas last year. Jo, Janet and Carol joined us, making it six for …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Top Gun: Maverick
Towards the end of last year, we decided that in the new year, every so often, we’d invite friends round, cook something and enjoy a film together! – We’re calling them… “Winner, Winner! TV Dinner!” So, for 2023, our first of these get-togethers was having David & Valerie here with Top Gun – Maverick ready …
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Thank Cod – it’s Curry Night!
Those that know us, already know that we’re partial to a curry (or 10!) on a Saturday night. Tonight, we invited long-time friends and neighbours: Paul & Karen and Dave & Rosi round to put the poppadums through their paces! We also tried something new tonight, where amongst the usual spicy staples – Curried Cod …
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