Roger, Jane and Oliver joined us for the Bank Holiday weekend followed by Nicki C. I’d also picked up Lee earlier in the day, and David and Valerie joined us for the evening meal – so it was a proper ‘full-house’. It was also the first week where we ‘test drove’ the new (almost finished) …
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Sports, Soccer and Sausages!
Bev’s New Business Venture I took the XKR up to Lincoln to meet up with Bev and help her with a photo-shoot for her new Sports Massage business based at Lincoln City FC. I managed to take a variety of shots for Bev – some wide angle and some for Instagram, but all suitable for …
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Sleepy Swinford gets a Bang!
A lads’ lunch today! I picked up Geoff B (a colleague from my Sainsbury days) in Irthlingborough and we headed off towards the sleepy village of Swinford – and The Chequers Pub. I haven’t seen Geoff for almost a gazillion years, and the drive to the Pub gave us chance to catch-up with each other’s …
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Fish and Sips
My First Proper Car c1975 – more of my cars HERE We headed for Chris and Gill’s tonight for a get-together of culinary excellence . And to complete the family, Francesca and Abigail were there too! – we haven’t seen all four of them since last August when we last visited. Denise and Steve were …
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Kitchens, Arks and Takeaways!
The Kitchen Makeover – Almost Finished We always knew today was going to be busy! It was the day we set aside for restocking the kitchen cupboards after emptying them last week in preparation for the kitchen makeover. In spite of the hard work by Anglia Interiors’s Grant, their kitchen installer, the job wasn’t quite …
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Let the Chaos Begin!
Sooooo last century! And so, this week sees the start of ‘kitchen chaos’ as it gets a well-deserved makeover. Stage 1 includes smashing the s*** out of all the tiling, together with the removal of two doors (to the dining room and utility room), to create an altogether more cleaner, more modern look. On Wednesday, …
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Rampant Rabbit
This’ll give kids nightmares for years!!! The highlight of this weekend was the double-birthday celebration for David and Rhiannon (Father and Daughter – 60 and 21 respectively!) in the shape of their joint Party in Burton Latimer. The music and food was fab – the surprise was the mystery appearance of a ‘Rabbit’ who went …
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Feast with Friends!
We had a great afternoon round at Rosi’s. She laid on a comprehensive Greek feast (for 14!) and together with the hot weather, it was a perfect afternoon! I hardly ever say: “I couldn’t eat another thing”, but guess what? Thanks Rosi!!!!
Fortescue Family!
It was off to The Fortescue Arms in Billingborough today, to meet up with Denis and Bev. We didn’t need much of an excuse, but as it happened it was to celebrate Denis’ birthday earlier in the week. Feeding Time! Phew! What a scorcher! Boy, was it hot!! We sat outside (a first for us …
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Boats, Blow-outs and Biryanis
It was off to Buckden Marina today with David and Val for a day-out on the boat – Osprey One! The weather looked a bit rubbish, but as the day wore on, it got warmer and warmer! All Aboard Osprey One We took the hour-and-a-half punt up to Godmanchester and had lunch on-board before taking …
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Sentimental Journey
I travelled down to London today, to the rather splendid looking Grosvenor Hotel to meet Connie R, one of Mum’s long-standing friends. Mum had left her a Ring in her Will that just happened to sport Connie’s birthstone! Interestingly, Connie was pretty sure that although they’d known each other for nearly 50 years, Connie’s had …
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Table Mountain
After last week’s disappointing mission to locate and purchase a replacement dining room table and chairs, as well as look for ideas for the kitchen makeover – today could only be described as ‘mission accomplished’. We drove up to Downtown near Grantham, for a look round their furniture department, and discovered they had mountains of …
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The Perfect Equation!?
Phew! The perfect equation!? David + Me + 29 x 90 litre bags of Bark Chippings = Weed-free front garden and a happy Wife! Cheers for your help David!
Wonderful Wheatsheaf
We picked up Lee and headed for The Wheatsheaf at Titchmarsh for Sunday Lunch. We haven’t been back here for a while, but the food and service was as good as we remember it. Since our last visit, as you can see, they’ve been treating the Yorkshire Puddings with Steroids! Having conquered the batter, we …
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Table Where?
Fabric Display at John Lewis MK – is it me, or do they look slightly creepy?It was a rather disappointing day today. We set off for MK in search of ideas for a replacement dining-room table and also to pick-up some ideas for colours for the planned refresh of the dining-room. First stop was the …
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Boys and their (Blue) Toys!
OK, here, as promised, are the first shots of my new toy – the rather splendid Jaguar XKR. It took my brother and I quite a while to locate the right model as there are plenty of grey ones (boring!!) or black ones (slightly less boring) out there – but we both felt that blue, …
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Meal with Ian and Mags – Il Moro
So, it was over to Stratford-upon-Avon this evening, for a catch-up with Ian and Mags. We were slightly off-schedule as were due to meet back in May, but had to cancel. What a find Il Moro was! (thanks Ian!!!), a perfectly positioned Italian Restaurant (away from the main buzz of of Stratford’s town centre, in …
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Holiday in Denmark – Day 9 (Last full day)
The forecast was for another day of ‘iffy’ weather, so we decided to continue our exploration of Denmark – but by staying under cover as much as possible. First stop of the day was Helsingor by train – and to make us feel at home, the journey was punctuated with engineering works requiring about three …
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Holiday in Denmark – Day 8 (Even More Sightseeing)
Up until yesterday, the weather throughout our holiday had been almost tropical. Today however, it felt more like temperatures that we’re used to – damp with a just a hint of sunshine! Still, it’s early morning, so there’s plenty of time for it to perk up. As a quick aside, I see that my conspiracy …
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Holiday in Denmark – Day 7 (More Sightseeing)
Today’s Blog is brought to you by the colour ‘grey’ and the number ‘5’. We certainly saw a contrast in the weather here today – it’s been threatening to rain all day and the sky has been mostly a yukky grey/blue colour. It’s been cold too – a real gust blowing all day, especially close …
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Holiday in Sweden – Day 6 (Returning to Denmark)
We said goodbye to Sweden and caught the train to Helsingborg. This was us acting spontaneously as promised yesterday! What we did was instead of taking the reverse of the journey we took when we first arrived on Monday, we got off about two thirds of the rail journey back towards Malmo and became foot-passengers …
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Escape from Stalag 25
We just checked with the Escape Committee. and we’re getting out at 9.46 disguised as ‘guests checking out’ (Theme tune from ‘The Great Escape’ playing through my headset). In order to blend in, we’re currently mingling with guests at breakfast, in order not to draw attention to ourselves. #WheresMyMotorbike
Holiday in Sweden – Day 5 (Gothenberg)
After yesterday’s discovery that our accommodation here at the ‘Scandic 25’ resembled more of a prison cell, than a hotel room, the Scandic prison guards have been very clever overnight. In order to ‘break us’, they’ve cleverly switched the standard mattress for an ultra comfortable one, and they also did something to the room, so …
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Holiday in Sweden – Day 4 (Gothenberg)
We caught the 12.05 train to Gothenberg, saying goodbye to Malmo. It’s was a two-and-a-half hour silky smooth journey in one of the most comfortable trains I think we’ve ever travelled in – reaching 202 kph at one point. Bye-bye Malmo – hello Gothenberg! On arriving at Gothenberg, we attempted to find our next hotel …
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Holiday in Sweden – Day 3 (Ystad)
England 1, Italy 2! What a great headline to wake up to!!! The weather forecast is about the same as yesterday, but with the possibility of the train service being restricted, we’re only going as far as the seaside town of Ystad today. It’s home to the country’s oldest cinema (Biografteatern Scala), a production studio, …
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Holiday in Sweden – Day 2 (Malmo and Beyond)
I slept like I’d been drugged! Almost 11 hours sleep for me is unusual, so it’s either the fresh Swedish air or that funny tasting night-cap last night 🙂 The weather forecast here for today is warm rather than hot – but at least it’s dry! Scorchio! (ish) As far as the planned boat-trip is …
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Holiday in Denmark and Sweden – Arrival
Our day started with our 6.30 pickup by taxi to Birmingham Airport. Then, after what was possible the worst cooked breakfast I’ve ever tasted (thank you Wetherspoons!), we were soon on board our flight to Kastrup in Denmark. A smooth flight courtesy of SAS landed us five minutes ahead of schedule. We yomped to the …
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Messing About in Boats (Part 942)
It was perfect weather today, for David and I to take the short drive to Buckden Marina. Armed with a wide range of cleaning materials, the objective was to get David’s boat super-shiny! Mission accomplished by 11.45, all finished with a bacon sandwich for lunch!
Father’s Day with Denis
The View form Denis’ Back Garden We drove up to Denis’ today – and what a gorgeously sunny day it was! We sat out and soaked up some rays – and the view – before tucking in to a ‘Father’s Day’ Lunch!! Bev sorted out the main course of Chicken with all the trimmings, whilst …
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Kitchen Plans
We dropped into see our friend Paul from Anglia Interiors this afternoon to discuss our thoughts for our kitchen revamp. Looks like we’ve got a plan for later this year!