Yes, it’s that time of year again! My annual School Reunion! 👍 Unlike last year’s event, where a) I travelled by car and b) Roger H travelled with me, for 2024, a couple of changes were made. First off, the journey by car last year was full of stops and starts (mostly ‘stops’) making it …
Read More
Le Picnic – Lamport Hall
Took a drive to nearby Lamport Hall today for ‘Le Picnic’ with Chris & Gill and Steve & Denise. It’s on our doorstep and given our love of old stately piles, I can’t believe we’ve never been here before! 🤔 You can’t beat a good picnic and if the sun is shining (as it was …
Read More
At last! Fibre!
Well, it’s a pivotal moment here at ‘Pemberley HQ’. We’re finally, finally, FINALLY getting top-end full-fibre broadband installed. Regular readers will know that for as long as I can remember, internet speeds here have always been very much ‘behind the curve’ (actually, no sign of the curve AT ALL). During the many years that I …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 8th July (Day 10)
Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 10, our final day, and our third and final Sea Day as we head for Southampton. Not much to read today, as it’s more of a summary of this year’s adventure with the Northants Nutters. Northants Nutters – Previous Tour Dates Nutters 2019 …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 7th July (Day 9)
7.25am: Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 9 – our penultimate day – and we’ve just docked in La Coruna, northern Spain. Thanks for all the reads this holiday – over 350 so far! 👍 We weren’t expecting to be here, but P&O tweaked the schedule a few days …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 6th July (Day 8)
Day 8 – Saturday, 6th July 7.32am: Morning all! We’re with the Northants Nutters group aboard the good ship Ventura! It’s Day 8 and we’re just about to dock in Leixoes in Portugal. Missed a Post?Day 1 – Setting Sail (eventually!)Day 2 – Sea Day 1Day 3 – Santander, SpainDay 4 – Sea Day 2Day …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 5th July (Day 7)
Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 7, and we’re on our second (and final) day in Lisbon. We set sail later for Leixões in Portugal at around 5.30pm tonight. Missed a Post? Day 1 – Setting Sail (eventually!)Day 2 – Sea Day 1Day 3 – Santander, SpainDay 4 – …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 4th July (Day 6)
Here we are aboard P&O’s Ventura, part of the Northants Nutters ‘on tour’ group aka Geoff & Rhonda, Paul & Sue, Richard & Nicki and us two! It’s now Day 6 of our 10-dayer where we’ve arrived in Lisbon, Portugal – and we’ve got a sleepover as we’re here for TWO days. 👍 Missed a …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 3rd July (Day 5)
Morning everyone! 😎🌞. Thanks for all the reads so far! Here we are with our fellow Northants Nutters, halfway through our 10-day adventure aboard P&O’s Ventura. It’s Day 5, and we’re moored in the Port of Vigo, on the north-east coast of Spain until mid-afternoon. Missed a Post? Day 1 – Setting Sail (eventually!) Day …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 2nd July (Day 4)
Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group on board P&O’s Ventura! It’s Day 4 (of 10) and it’s our second sea day. Tonight is another ‘formal’ night where most of us will be dressing up. Prepare for some ‘bling overload’ and ‘Bond Lookalikes’ later! 👍😂 Missed a Post? Day 1 – Ship …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 1st July (Day 3)
Morning all! It’s Monday, and here we are, aboard P&O’s Ventura, as part of the Northants Nutters group. It’s Day 3 and we’re here in Santander, Spain. 😎😎. The clocks went forward an hour last night, so at least one of us is a little bleary-eyed this morning! 😵💫 Missed a Post? Day 1 – …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 30th June (Day 2)
Morning all! Here we are, as part of the Northants Nutters group! It’s Day 2 – Sunday – and a sea day aboard the good ship, Ventura. Our next stop? Santander, tomorrow👍😀. Today, for many, the highlight of the day will be the televised soccer match between England and Slovakia (more about that later!) – …
Read More
Northants Nutters at Sea (2024) – 29th June (Day 1)
Welcome to Day 1. Here we are, aka The Northants Nutters group – and we’re all at sea!👍😀. In fact, we’re building up quite a travel record together… Northants Nutters® Tour Dates Our first Warner experienceWarner Weekend 2019 – Littlecote House Hotel(March 2019) Our second visit to Warner’sWarner Weekend 2020 – Holme Lacy House(March 2020) …
Read More
Bosworth Bound
On one of sunniest days of the year (so far) we headed off to the quaint town of Market Bosworth. A smooth journey there, although the sat-nav did take us through Hinkley town which slowed things down a tad. It seemed that the good weather had brought everybody out today! Parking was challenging, but we …
Read More
Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 8: Empire of Death
This is it! After seven weeks of, shall we say, variable quality, here we are The FINAL episode of season series 1. It’s also the second of the two-parter that began last week with The Legend of Ruby Sunday. Jo (fellow walker and Whovian) and I had already seen this one last night at a …
Read More
Doctor Who Series Finalé 2024 – Advanced Screening
10.27pm: Evening all! It’s nearly showtime at 11pm and well past my bedtime – but we think it’s worth it, as Jo and I are here at Cineworld, Rushden Lakes about to watch the season series finalé of one of our favourite programmes – Doctor Who. Yes, THE CINEMA! In a masterclass of marketing, last …
Read More
Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 7: The Legend of Ruby Sunday
We’ve now arrived at Episode 7 and there are two points to note. First: this is the penultimate episode of this new season series. Second: it’s the first of a two-parter, with next week’s finalé, entitled ‘Empire of Death’ promising an ‘episode like no other’. And, if that wasn’t enough intrigue, they’re both being shown …
Read More
That Lyveden Feeling!
Off to National Trust’s Lyveden New Bield this morning for a wander around. Looks like we were last here back in December 2017 and since then, it’s had a fair bit of money spent on it. Everywhere had received a serious makeover, there was a new car-park and the Manor House was now open to …
Read More
Job Done in Dunstable!
Headed off to Toddington in Dunstable this morning to catch up with long-time friend, Angela C. The journey there took longer than expected – it should have been around an hour, but with the M1 near Flitwick being dug up in both directions, it made my progress VERY slow! 😟 We made good use of …
Read More
Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 6: Rogue
Episode 6 and with only two more episodes to go, things are hotting-up. With just ‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’ and ‘Empire of Death’ left, as the remaining titles, I hear that they’re going to show them in cinemas too on the preceding Friday night. I think that’s a first! Last week’s episode ‘Dot and …
Read More
A Very Pleasant Pheasant!
We made a welcome return to The Pheasant in Keystone tonight with great friends (and neighbours) David & Valerie. The Pub is now under new management (again!) having laid empty and unloved for over a year and eventually reopening on the 28th May, 2021. It was good to be back – we were last here …
Read More
Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 5: Dot and Bubble
Episode 5 and another one penned by Showrunner: Russell T Davies. I loved last week’s – 73 Yards – but when it came to the final act, it was a bit short on answers! But it didn’t stop me from giving it the highest rating so far this series! Having said that, I really do …
Read More
Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 4: 73 Yards
We’re now four episodes into the rebooted, err, rebooted Doctor Who TV franchise. This week’s tempting (but-haven’t-got-a-clue-what-it-means) title is ’73 Yards’. 🤔 First, let’s get the bad news out of the way! From this super-fan’s perspective, it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the latest run of this iconic show. The first episode was excruciatingly …
Read More
20 Years a Blogger!
Yes, I’ve been penning this stuff for a long time now! 🤩 It all started as a ‘techy’ experiment back in May 2004, but today is exactly 20 years since I first began trying out the then ‘next big thing’ called ‘blogging’. Back then, the promise was that ‘everyone, one day, will have their own …
Read More
Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 3: Boom
I’m just about to watch Episode 3 of the new Doctor Who series. I really hope it’s better than last week’s openers, the very disappointing ‘Space Babies’ and the not-much-better-but-slightly improved, second episode: The Devil’s Chord. This week’s instalment is called ‘Boom’. Synopsis Caught in the middle of a devastating war on Kastarion 3, the …
Read More
Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 1: Space Babies/Episode 2: The Devil’s Chord
Doctor Who returns, now with Nkuti Gatwa in the titular role. Err, wait though! ‘Series 1?? Surely some sort of mistake? Shouldn’t it be either ‘Series 14’ (based on the rebooted series in 2005) or even ‘Series 40′, (if you’re a real purist and start from the very first series aired in 1963)???? A confusing …
Read More
Stamford Stroll
It was a gorgeous day today (the best for ages) so we took a short drive to Stamford. It seems the rest of the world had the same plans and to say that the town was ‘buzzing’ was a massive understatement! We managed to pick up pretty much everything we set out to buy, including …
Read More
The George, Great Oxendon
I’m beginning to lose count of the exact number of times we’ve been here since our great friends, Paul and Sue first introduced us to this eatery back in November, 2021. It really is a first-class place to eat, and the service is second-to-none. Today, we’re meeting up with Ian & Ann and Alan & …
Read More
Nottingham with Dennis and Sandra
Today was another of our cultural days out with Dennis and Sandra – this time it’s Nottingham. Since we first started doing these in 2017, we’ve built up quite a list – today will be our 16th ‘day out’ together! 👍😀 Doddington Hall (December 2023)International Bomber Command (September 2023)Southwell (March 2023)Chatsworth House (November 2022)Belvoir Castle …
Read More
Theatre: “Legally Blonde”
We headed off in the direction of Kettering’s Lighthouse Theatre this afternoon to see ‘Legally Blonde’ (based on the 2001 film of the same name, that starred Reese Witherspoon). It wouldn’t be my first choice of theatre entertainment, but with six women – Ann, Jo, Janet, Carol, Helen and Chris and just me along for …
Read More