6.30am: A bit of a lie-in this morning! 💤 According to the forecast, it’s another warm one today, so we plan to make the most of it. We’re heading out to Heale House and Gardens in nearby (ish) Middle Wooton and then onto NT’s Cherhill Downs – armed with a picnic of course! Actually, the …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 3 (of 5)
6.10am: I certainly slept better than yesterday and if they can get the service right at Breakfast after yesterday’s fiasco, then all will be right in the world! 7.55am: It’s breakfast time and I’m happy to report that it all went very smoothly and there was no visible wounds showing on the staff from where …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 2 (of 5)
6.45am: Morning all! 👍👍 Strangely, I didn’t sleep too well, waking up at 2.30am (!!!) accompanied by a head that felt like I’d overdone it on the shandies! Disappointingly, I hadn’t!!! I popped a few pills and tried to get back to sleep. My pounding head (like my hairline) receded quickly, but I never really …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 1 (of 5)
10.00am: Well, here we are back in ‘holiday-mode’ where we’re spending six days in and around the beautiful town of Marlborough. Marlborough is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. The town boasts a population of between …
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Calke Walk
We took a picnic to National Trust’s Calke Abbey today. Our last visit was back in May 2011 when the weather was truly atrocious! Luckily, today, it was a little kinder. What makes Calke a bit different from most other NT properties is that its name doesn’t reflect the building itself! As any local will …
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DVDs sorted
For the umpteenth time, I’ve tidied-up my DVD collection. It should have been one of those jobs that was completed during the early days of ‘lockdown’, but you know what they say about that Round Tuit??? 😁 We now have ‘classics’ on the left (far too many to fit in the cabinet!) and Blu-rays, front …
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Super Saturday
Today was dubbed ‘Super Saturday‘. It was the first day with the slightly relaxed lockdown in force, where some (not all) businesses were now allowed to re-open, trying their very best to make up for their lost trade over the past three months. Examples included Pubs and Hairdressers who were allowed to trade from one-minute …
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The Corona Chronicles – My First 100 Days
It’s Saturday, the 21st March, and as the ‘new normal’ unfolds and the virus begins to dictate our lifestyle, I guess we’ll all look back on this in years to come with that wonderful gift of hindsight – and (hopefully!) draw some important lessons! This blog, that I’ve penned on and off since 2004, tends …
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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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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 10 – “The Timeless Children”
It’s the season finalé and there are a lot of unanswered questions! Hopefully, they’ll all be dealt with in tonight’s extended episode of 65 minutes! 😁 The Interweb on fire… Predictably, the Interweb has been on fire this week, full of theories, counter-theories, rumours and counter-rumours about how it’s all going to turn out! But, …
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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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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 9 – “Ascension of the Cybermen”
The penultimate episode for this series – and it’s a two-parter! There’s been plenty of anticipation online for this one, so it was a bit of a bummer that I wasn’t able to watch it live – I’m writing this, the day after, having successfully avoided any spoilers online. SYNOPSIS: It’s the aftermath of the …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 8 – “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”
Another pre-credit sequence – after last week’s, that’s two in a row! 🤔 SYNOPSIS:Lake Geneva, 1816. Lord Byron and the Shelleys prepare for a night telling ghost stories, but their villa proves to have ghostly presences all its own. This episode was written by (newcomer to Who) Maxine Alderton. A great story tonight with an …
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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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Mival-lous
A boys’ get-together today! 👍 I drove over to Stamford to meet up with ex-business colleague and film producer: Eric Mival. We’ve kept in touch ever since Eric shot a corporate video for Sainsbury’s (that I was responsible for) back in the late 80s. Our venue of choice was, of course, the iconic George Hotel …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 7 – “Can You Hear Me?”
I found last week’s episode – Praxeus, had a lot of potential, but its oh-so-predictable ending and the not-so-subtle message about the environment spoilt it (although most of the critics seemed to disagree with me, so it shows how much I know!). So, with only two more episodes to air this season, there’s a lot …
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Play: Midsummer Night’s Dream
We drove over to Stratford-upon-Avon today – to The Bear Pit – to see Second Thoughts‘ penultimate performance of 2020’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was a perfect excuse to leave a bit earlier to give us time to get some retail therapy in the town! We chose the matinée performance at 2.30pm, …
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Celebrating Sainsbury’s!
A short tale of how, many years ago, one person influenced the career paths of three others – and today’s reunion! 👍👍👍 The Back-story In 1972, I joined Sainsbury’s at their flagship store – Central Croydon as a Saturday Student – working Friday nights and all-day Saturday. By late 1974, I was still uncertain as …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 6 – “Praxeus”
Well, it seems that series 12 is now on a roll! After last week’s shock revelations and a story that pleased the critics, fans and super-fans alike (all three? truly a rare event in itself!), this episode is going to have to work really hard! SYNOPSIS:What connects a missing astronaut in the Indian Ocean, birds …
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Lunch with Nicki
Nicki joined us last night and after a lazy(ish) morning today, we headed off to our fave ‘Local’ – The Old Victoria, for lunch. As usual, the food and service didn’t disappoint! Matthew was off today, but with Joanna running the show, we knew we were in safe hands! 👍😁 We were all too full …
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We’re out!!!
It’s 11pm here in the UK and midnight in Brussels – and after 47 years, we’re out! OK, technically, we’ve got a period of ‘transition’ (whatever that means!) but the people have spoken! I voted remain, and I can’t help think that this is the worst decision ever for our country. Our children (and children’s …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 5 – “Fugitive of the Judoon”
We’re exactly halfway through this series, and after last week’s very satisfying episode, I wonder if this week’s will be as good? SYNOPSIS: The Judoon have marched their way into modern Gloucester on the hunt for a fugitive. Who are they pursuing, and why is the Doctor involved? Reserve your space behind the settee for …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 4 – “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror”
After an enjoyable (and thought-provoking) couple of opening episodes to this new series, last week’s was, for me, a real ‘yawn-fest’. I’m hoping, therefore, tonight’s story is going to get Who back on track… 😮 SYNOPSIS: It’s 1903, and someone (or something) is sabotaging Nikola Tesla’s generator plant at Niagara Falls. And in a possible …
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Film: 1917
We drove over to Cineworld at Rushden Lakes to see the recently released flick ‘1917‘ (after having to cancel last Sunday). Sam Mendes directs and shares writing duties for this World War 1 adventure. It’s based on stories recounted by Sam Mendes’s grandfather — Alfred Mendes — and stars a host of famous faces — …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 3 – “Orphan 55”
First class CGI together with the scariest monsters since the ‘Weeping Angels’, all supported by a plot line that moved at pace! Every actor gave it their all, and the production qualities were akin to a movie. 👏 So, I’m not sure why this episode bored me rigid! I guess it all felt a bit …
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The RSC: King John
This afternoon was a unique opportunity to see Shakespeare’s rarely performed production of ‘King John’ at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. We met Chris and Gill at theirs and headed over to the Theatre in time for a spot of lunch followed by the performance at 1.30pm. (The lunch incidentally, was superb!) I wasn’t familiar with …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 5 (2020)
It’s our last full day here and if the weather forecast is to be believed, it won’t be a day for anything outside! A quick look through our guide-book offered some indoor-alternatives, so we dressed accordingly and headed out into a very grey day. We were umbrella-less due to ours self-destructing during yesterday’s adventures with …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 4 (2020)
The weather forecast for today, Wednesday, is not so good! In a word: ‘showers’! In another word: ‘cold’! Time then, to discover more of Israel, but from the inside of somewhere! 😃 To maintain our sense of adventure (but mostly to dodge the showers!) we’re diving again into the world of Jerusalem’s public transport system. …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 3 (2020)
A slightly earlier start to today as we have a list of places to visit including our continued trek around more of the old city walls that we started yesterday. On our planned itinerary today… Luckily, the weather is much-the-same as yesterday with only a slight chance of rain. Our first stop today was Temple …
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