A bitter-sweet day today as I travelled down to my Brother’s at ‘silly o’clock’, and then onto Mum’s flat for the ‘final clear-out’. It was hard to believe that it’s highly likely I’ll never need to visit there again in the future – a poignant moment. Our day began with the obligatory : ) early-morning …
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Meal with the Girls
And so it was off to London today to meet up with ‘the gang’ – June, Angela and Antoinette – for our regular three-monthly evening meal/get-together. Originally, I’d also planned to catch up with Peter J earlier in the afternoon, but he had to cancel at the last minute. First stop was meeting Angela at …
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Tech Alert No. 0514
Come on… open the box! Technology waits for no-one – even for tech-heads like me! After almost four years of faithful service, today, we pensioned off the current Panasonic Plasma 46 inch TV (the ‘TX46P20B’) in favour of a shiny new ‘smart TV’ – a Samsung LED 46 incher (the ‘UE46F800’). It was an offer …
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Guinness and Prosecco Party
A great way to start the evening… Those that know us well, know that our two fave things are being with friends and eating out – if we can combine the two, then it’s the makings of a great night out! So, tonight was a simply the perfect evening, just waiting to happen. Trish and …
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Waiter, there’s a Soup in my Hare!
We met up with David and Valerie and headed for The Hare in Loddington tonight. In spite of our early booking for 7pm, the car-park was already almost full when we arrived (perhaps a good sign?). Inside the Pub, the numbers confirmed the car-park situation – the place was already buzzing! It’s only our second visit …
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Track Day – Jaguar f-type
Neil and I were lucky enough to secure a couple of tickets for an invite-only track day for the new Jaguar f-type at Millbrook. What fantastic day! Perfectly hosted by Jaguar with an opportunity to try-out all the variants of this gorgeous car! There were 25 of us – and rather spookily 25 cars. So, …
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Because We’re Worth(ing) It
Friday We left around 8.30 heading in the direction of Worthing, and our good friends Ian and Sharon. I say, ‘heading’ as the need for retail therapy kicked-in, and we dropped into Guildford – our first visit ever – for a quick punt around the local shops. We parked easily and were soon helping Guildford …
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A Meal fit for a Duke!
David and Valerie invited to a private do at the Citadel in town tonight, where we sampled the delights of Michelin Star Chef, Mike North, from The Nut Tree. First up was a cooking demonstration on how to prepare the perfect Beef Wellington (involving pancakes!!!), then we sat down a full three-courser to see if …
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Messing about in Boats (sort of!)
David and I went over to David’s boat – Osprey One – at Buckden Marina today with a plan to wash and polish it. The weather had other ideas, and we had to abandon the mission having only really given it a good wash! We’ll be back!!!!
The Journey
I met up with Ian today in London, near the Houses of Parliament. First up was the historical part of our day, where we visited the Jewel House, the Chapter House and Pyx Chamber and then, after a brisk walk taking us past Buckingham Palace (and an ice-cream van), we ended up at Wellington Arch, …
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The Weekend Starts Here
After the significant events of this week, it was good to chill-out this weekend. Ralph and Karen came to stay, and arrived around tea-time on Friday. After a quick catch-up, it was off to the Shuckburgh Arms in Stoke Doyle for a meal – the photos below say it all! – a fantastic meal all …
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And so, farewell Mum
It was a difficult day for the Palmer/Gambles clans today, as we said goodbye to Mum. We drove to the Flat, met up Neil, Debbie, Alfie and Frankie, and then our Celebrant, Richard Woolnough. We then went onto Beckenham Crematorium by car, for the Service at 1.30. I’d agreed to lead the tributes with a …
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Play: The 39 Steps
It was off to London today, to meet up with Angela C. Our destination was the Criterion Theatre to see the Play: The 39 Steps. I was hoping to try out my new camera-phone and snap a photograph of Eros, but the statue was covered in scaffolding and hidden from view, so I had to …
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Family Lunch
The Calm before the Starter! Who’s Who! Ann, together with Lee’s help pulled together a superb Easter Lunch for the family today. Even though Mum wouldn’t travel such a distance for these things, it did still feel a little odd that she wasn’t ‘around’.Let Battle Commence… Italian Meats & Fruit Bev’s TrifleGuess who’s washing up?
Lent… Spent!
OK, so here we are, with just 1 minute left to go, I’m at the end of the Lent period for 2014. And, as the clock strikes midnight, it’s then end to my 44-day enforced denial of all the food and drink I really love! After nearly caving in LAST year, trying to do the …
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Tech Alert: Sky Updates its Sky-Guide
I put on the TV to find that the ‘homepage’ on my Sky-Box downstairs had changed dramatically. The Box upstairs is still showing the old layout, but I guess they’re rolling it out over a period of time. Plenty of details HERE, but my first impressions are good, in that everything just seems to be …
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A Flat Day
It was a very surreal day yesterday. Ann and I, together with Neil and Debbie, met at Mum’s Flat, and began the task of working through everything. Thanks for your kind thoughts everyone, together with the cards – they mean a lot. All your suggestions about ‘trying to remember the good times’ was the philosophy …
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RIP – Eileen Mabel Palmer
b: 1 July 1927, d: 2 April 2014 Mum passed away in the early hours of this morning, after sustaining serious burns last Friday in an accident at her Flat. We visited her at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital on Sunday, where she had been admitted to the Specialist Burns Unit. Thankfully, due to the medication they’d …
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Family Meal: Fortescue Arms
As part of Ann’s Birthday celebrations, we headed up to The Fortescue Arms in Billingborough for a surprise pre-birthday lunch treat. Unknown to Ann, the rest of her family were going to be there too! – Roger, Jane, Oliver, Bev and of course, her Dad, Denis. We were first to arrive, followed by Denis and …
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Day Out in Oxford
A packed day of activities today! We picked-up David and Valerie and headed off in the direction of the Oxford’s Peartree Park and Ride for a day out in – you guessed it – Oxford. First stop was the Ashmolean Museum – a place we just can’t seem to get enough of, having been there …
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Care Hare
You wait for ages for a great eatery to come along and then… (well, you know the rest!) Not content with discovering the Beckworth Emporium on our doorstep last week – tonight, we discovered another local gem. We met up with our friends, Paul and Sue at The Hare in the nearby village, Loddington. They …
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Not Chocolate!
Received a Kit-Kat today! No, it wasn’t me ignoring my Lent List, instead, it was the rather bizarre name for the latest OS update to my Android phone, the Galaxy S4. A rather chunky 354.88Mb download showed that it was going to take around 20-30 minutes to grab the update file – but that was …
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Tech Alert: No. 8.1
Today was my first foray into Windows 8. A friend’s shiny new laptop was supposed to come pre-installed with Windows 7, 64 bit – instead, it arrived with the much unloved Windows 8. Now there’s not much I DON’T know about Windows 7, so this was all going to be a voyage of discovery! My …
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Beckworth Emporium
You would have thought that having lived in these parts for so long, we would know every good place to shop and eat – not so! Friends had mentioned Beckworth Emporium in the past, and although we’d mentally added it to our ‘places-to-go-when-there’s-not-much-else-to-do’, we had never actually been there – and it’s only a short …
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Lunch with Alison W
Dessert! I drove over to Peterborough today in Marco – its first long(ish) journey since taking ownership a few weeks ago. It’s running a lot faster now I’ve added red car mats! Putting fuel in it was like going back in time – 25 quid and the tank is now three-quarters full! (that’s a big …
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Search Engine Optimisation – Go Organic!
A rare (ish!) ‘pure’ techy blog for my readers, who are interested in ensuring their websites are well-ranked in Google’s search engine results. I can’t claim authorship – it’s from those very clever guys and gals at seosherpa.com – and definitely worth a read! Click on the graphic for a version that’s easier to download. …
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Cats of Nine Tales
Biscuit Bon-Bon The twins turned nine today. Oh, the tales they could tell – probably more than 9 – but that would have ruined the title!
Lent Boy 2014
Yes, it’s almost that time of year again, and those that know me, know that since 2010, I’ve been using the Lent period to deny myself all the food and drink that I enjoy. I try to add a few items each year to make the experience even tougher, but it’s getting to the stage …
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Film: Non-Stop
The reinvention of Liam Neeson as an action-hero, has, in my view, been pretty much a success, with films such as Taken, Battleship and Unknown (and more) adding to his more recent acting portfolio (perhaps except Taken 2 that I felt was a bit disappointing!) Although the Sunday Mail, gave his latest: Non-Stop – directed …
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The Generosity of Friends
VW Polo – ‘Marco’ We’re lucky enough to have lots of friends – friends, who over the years, have been very generous to us. Today was another of those times when we were ‘bowled-over’ by a someone’s actions. Lee, our good friend of many years, told us today, that after a lifetime of driving, she’s …
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