Home again

We've had a charmed couple of days tootling around the Oxfordshire countryside & lunching in favorite pubs. We went to Aynho, The Great western, to lunch yesterday - great homemade soup & chunky sandwiches in a cosy setting, then on to collect T from school, whilst KP went swimming. We went to Deddington, a lovely village with a 3 storey antiques emporium for a poke around. T was fascinated & great fun - he loves "willow pattern", having been studying China at school. We went back to Pret in Bicester Village for tea, where B joined us on his way home from work. Later, we had a nice meal when T & KP had gone to bed & chatted until bed/sleep, whichever came first! This morning G dropped me in Bicester for a potter whilst he went to J for a treatment & we met up later. We went to The Pointer at Brill for lunch, the most amazing food ever; G had a smoked salmon scotch egg (egg wrapped in smoked salmon mousse), I had an beef sandwich - home made wholemeal bread, horseradish & layers of pink,local roast beef. Fantastic. we came home around the lanes, dropping in at the Antiques' centre at Weedon. Home & settled by a good fire - about to check out my purchases on t'internet!

Bang bang...

Q. Whats brown, amazingly chocolatey with a chunk of Belgian white chocolate at one end, milk chocolate at the other & delicious? A. chocolate brownie from Hambletons bakery in Oundle - winner of the "Best small Baker" last year. I shall never eat a brownie from any other baker ever again - they only supply a few shops locally in Rutland & Leics, so that should be a diet plus. Today we went to Nuneaton Justice Centre to collect the shotguns, then drove to Southams auction House in Oundle, to go in the sale in early Feb. The local villages are very pretty & Oundle is delightful, with lots of small specialist shops, some grand houses & a public school of note. We lunched at The White ..... on soup & pate with Hambleton's bread, then pottered around the town & came across the bakery. We drove home via Market harborough, Loughborough & Atherstone, intending to stop for tea, but didn't. It has been 12 degrees today, a vast improvement on the last week, but felt colder. Yesterday was a good day - I took the assembly at Shustoke school & booked in to take another in Feb before Mothering Sunday. After lunch, I went to the shop to see if I was needed - I wasn't, the bakery would have needed pricing for me. I went on to vacuum the xmas tree needles in church - Maurice had already done it, so I went to have a cup of tea with Marg & Phil for an hour. I cooked W & MK's pork ribs for dinner, with mashed potatoes & onion, apple & red wine sauce, followed by stewed apricots & ice cream. I seem to have a voracious appetite at the moment - I hope it's only due to the cold weather!

Bubble & squeek

What else do you do with left over brocolli & potato? The Burn's Night celebration was a great success - we seated 27 people around a long dining table, going across two rooms & all went according to plan, starting with the Selkirk grace, ending nearly six hours later, when the last guests left. The food was great - even that made by me! I recommend The Hairy bikers haggis sauce (cream whisky, mustards, lemon & chives)& james Martin's salmon pate & tipsy laird. Anyway, all is back to normal, the house gleaming - a good chance to clean the corners when furniture has had to be moved, to clean the fridge when you have a lot of food to store & to clean the saucepan shelf/scour all of the pans, when they've all been used. More than a few wee drams were cosumed, we had a great raffle, with donatd prizes & we made a profit of £440. As I picked up my shoes to go to bed at 2.00am I noyed that they were not matching - one slingback with cloth front, one shoe with patent front. Did anyone notice or were they dazzled by my kilt, white silk shirt & sash or even G's full highland dress? I did change in a hurry & had put two pairs of shoes out to decide later - we are considering making odd shoes a requisite next year. Two accolades - *my Hunter wellies, a present from W & MK a while ago are brilliant! They are so soft & comfortable, a race apart from my green Dunlop boots which make any movement unpleasant. *New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Waitrose have fairy dishwasher tabs, 51 for £6.95, which is even cheaper than the packs of 28. The snow has gone apart from a pile full of gravel on the drive - 3 degrees at 6.00am this morning but the chickens are still hibernating/not laying. They may be traumatised!

Silvo

That's the smell on my hands, having cleaned enough cutlery to lay the table for 30 for tomorrow night - two sets of knives & forks +a dessert spoon + butter knife each. Knives - 3 each are at a premium - plenty of large but fewer butter knives. The tables are all in & lined up, awaiting the cloths & chairs. I went to Kenilworth this morning to collect the haggis & do the shopping at Waitrose. Everthing went well, with many of the things I wanted, reduced. I forgot the list but only missed couple of things. We now have: Smoked salmon & salmon pate (to make) Haggis, neeps, tatties & brocolli, served with whisky, mustard & cream sauce (to make) Crnachan or Tipsy Laird (trifle with mascapone & whisky) Cheese & biscuits tea/coffee with scottish Tablet. I'm going to cook some mince with vegetables in case anyone doesn't eat haggis. All going according to plan - easy cooking but a lot to serve up quickly. I'm still feeling well-blessed & smiling about yesterday's results.

All clear

Boobs, that is. I was called back for further tests following my mammogram a couple of weeks ago. As we were going away I put it off for a week & went to Walsgrave hospital this morning. You assess your stress levels on arrival - I reckoned mine as 10/10, but put 7/10, before having a chat with a nurse who explained that there were changes since the last tests, hence the recall. Only 1 in 15 women have a problem. So. I spent the waiting time counselling someone with stress leves of 12/10. You then have another mammogram, then an ultrasound - last had one when expecting B - then a biopsy, if necessary. I had the first two tests, then was declared fit- no problems - the best words I've heard for a long time. Apparently tissue can become folded during a mammogram, giving a dark area - a bit of spare tyre got into the picture, perhaps! Apart from the inevitable stress the service was excellent & the staff brilliant. We went on to MG to collect the kilts ready for Friday & spent a couple of hours with J & G, via Waitrose in Kenilworth to collect the haggis, then on to Bicester for a visit to Cotswold, Tog 24 & tea in the garden Centre. G is now fully equiped for Everest. We've had an Indian take-away, wine & a small box of chocolates for dinner, in front of the fire, celebrating the perfection of my body. Diet starts again tomorrow!

Haggis hunting!

Phew, loads of snow & sub-zero temperatures. Coleshill was second in the list of most snow in the Midlands last night, at 11cm - not a lot for the Vikings in the family, but extreme for B46. It seems even colder as we've just returned from a week in Kyrenia, N Cyprus, lazing in the sun. Actually, we don't really do lazing, but we've explored on foot & by car, 3 days of each, & relaxed in the old port, drinking coffee in the sunshine. The hotel was great - The Pia Bella - recommended. We arrived home yesterday tea-time, having dropped in to see JR en route. The flight was in 15 minutes early & the roads were clear apart from the last 1/4 mile, so we were well blessed. One of the chickens has disappeared, in the snow, whilst we were away, so we have plodded around the site - plenty of footprints - two legged & four legged, but no chicken! A bit Wallace & Gromitish - The Chicken Run! We shall party if she returns, but not too hopefull as it's so cold & chickens are not highly intelligent. We have a Burn's Night celebration on Friday, to raise funds for sh church. We are having a sit-down meal, humming in the haggis, etc. To our surprise, we have 30 people coming & have spent some of the day planning the tables & seating - 4 tables in line across the kitchen & conservatory should do it - two tables to collect from church. I have just been on line & on the phone sourcing the haggis - not as easy as you may think. Neeps & tatties are a doddle! Have to check up on ingredients for "cranacan" & "whisky trifle".

JR sitting

Having a night with JR - he's asleep! He had a fall after Christmas & broke his shoulder, which is strapped & causing some pain. I've administered pain killers, which work by putting you to sleep, until you're better. Busy writing the next chapter of my latest steamy novel, working title, "Too long in the sun" - may take the week, instead of blogging. This may be the one!

Retail Therapy.

How is it that men don't appreciate the calming effect of walking around nice shops, looking, even without buying? I started early today to get lots of jobs done so that i could escape for a few hours to potter in Knowle & Solihull. I had a great time - there & back within 5 hours! I do try to convince G that we should both have a day out each week so that the other can have the house to themselves & then have a day out together. I only bought a few bits & pieces, including two T shirts from M&S sale & dinner from the food hall. I've even painted my toe nails, which have dried whilst I sorted e mails. Apart from the excess stone, I feel pretty good, for a Granny! Cold weather forecast - the down coat's earned it's keep already. G has chopped piles of logs & manfully removed the bags of dog poo that some dog walker of dubious parentage, bags up & throws into the hedges in the lane, daily. I may put up posters tomorrow, requesting that they take their parcels home. Any suggestions for the wording?

Bbbbrrrrrrr

Another frosty night - weather from Scandanavia, apparently, so we can share it with W & MK.Yesterday was bright & sunny, today wasn't! This may be why I moved mountains yesterday - played tennis, cleaned the cars , did loads of laundry, cooked a stew & dumplings for dinner & chaired a fundraising meeting here in the evening. Today we've not done much at all. One of us lets the chickens out when it gets light & takes tea up to bed.It is a big mistake to then start the DT crossword in bed. Suddenly it's 10.00am! It took the rest of the morning to write Sunday's sermon,I had a delicious lunch - tomato with mozarello, avacado & salad, whilst G finished the stew. We've been to the Mill for chicken food, visited Marg & Phil & taken cables back to the church. G has been doing his tax return, day 3 - of whom does that remind you? I have been aware of the birds singing at first light, for the last week. I'm not imagining it - the DT reports that the dawn chorus is weeks early due to the mild weather. This cold spell has given them a lie in again.

Badgers.

We have had holes in the wood in the field for many years, diagnosed as rabbit burrows by friends. i have doubted this for two reasons: *I never see any rabbits in the field *the size of the holes. I had favoured foxes, but have to doubt this on two counts: *no smell. *three healthy chickens free ranging in the field & spending a lot of time in the wood. We have now settled on badgers. From internet research, they seem to tick most of the boxes - large D-shaped holes, now taking bedding materials in. We haven't found the badger WC......yet. A new hole appears almost weekly - large amounts of soil excavated. We now want to find a way of spotting them - I've done a number of late-night sorties, to no avail. We gardened/fielded this morning - heavy tidying; G built a grand bonfire from tree & shrub prunings, bracken & waste card/paper. After a bacon sandwich I rested up & then attacked the ironing mountain - the largest for years. Later, having waited for the rain, I did a sortie around the village to deliver Xmas tree decorations from the church trees & letters inviting folk to our Burn's Night celebration on 25 Jan - proceeds to Sh church. Get in touch if you want to join us for haggis, neeps & tatties, with a wee dram & a host of homemade Scottish delicacies.

Impossible!

Does anyone know what this is,how to permanently remove it or where my spellcheck has gone? We have been to the pictures, the second time in three days. This is a lifetime record. G was disappointed in "Quartet" on Saturday - too many old people, predicting our own eventual decline. This time we saw "Impossible", the story of a family caught up in the tsunami on 26 dec 2004 - not high on the probability list for our future! It was a real weepy, only made bearable by the prior knowledge that the whole family survived, against all the odds. Another excellent film, even trailers for others that G fancies - "Die Hard" being the only one I can recall. This morning I played tennis whilst G moved timber in the field, before going to see Peter & Judith. G had volunteered to do some odd jobs & then take P to the airport, then we went on to Solihull, had a coffee, then on to the flicks. No eggs today - hens have lost all sense of gratitude! Weather has been mild & dry - work to finish in the garden tomorrow, if it's still dry, otherwise I shall attack the New Year ironing mountain.

Epiphany

We're sitting by a roaring fire, watching "Antiques Road show" - what more could you ask for on a cold winter evening, after a hard day? I was up early, to fill & ice a coffee cake, which I took to Sh church, for andrew's b'day, then came home to prepare lunch - roast beef, etc, before goint to NW to take the service. There were six of us for lunch as we were having a church mtg afterwards. How is it that W & B can make better yorkshire puddings than me? I even used today's eggs & whisked thoroughly in the blender. Perhaps it was opening the oven door to put in the vegetables, etc. It tasted good but was a big disappointment by way of appearance. The meeting concluded at about 5.00pm, we covered a lot of ground & have plans..... Yesterday evening we went to see "Quartet" in Coventry - a film set in a retirement home for retired musicians, starring Maggie Smith, Billy Connelly, Pauline Collins, Tom Courtney & a host of other stars. Not a barrel of laughs, but well worth watching.

12 drummers...........

The decorations are all down, thanks to G, aided by J, T &KP -they only missed about a dozen, but they were rather obscure. Yesterday morning there was a great deal of imaginative play in the garden,involving journeys in the jeep, KP "laid up" on a bench for a while & a lot of giggling. T checked the eglu for eggs on a regular basis - we were redundant! We went to solihull & had a late lunch of "Happy Meals, then bought chicken goujons for tea, so that we could compare M&S with McD chicken nuggets, then went to collect Th from school. He claimed the record for the largest number of people collecting anyone from school - 4! They all played with gusto, had tea - M&S won out over McD - played some more, then G & I took T & KP home. We were all delighted to see B & E. We had a good dinner together, when T & KP were in bed, tried B's welsh whisky, ate E's posh chocolates & had a sleepover. This morning G went to MG for a "back attack", whilst we went into Bicester & the family humoured me by having a potter around "Granny's China Shops" (GCSs). I am now the proud owner of a beautiful tapestry of The Laughing Cavalier - brand new, hand made, & a Welly 1:24 diecast model of a VW caravan. Open to offers! G & I came home around the lanes, stopping at Aynho - The Great western - for a light lunch - highly recommended. A good fun few days - sermon is done for tomorrow so all's well with the world.

Christmas day 10.

Where did days 7,8 & 9 go to?
We had a good lunch party here on New Year's day, with about thirty friends.
Peter & aj stayed & helped to put "the show on the road", aj washing & clearing up like a professional for the odd few hours.
On Tuesday fifteen of us, including seven grandchildren, went to The Little Theatre in Chipping Norton, to see "Cinderella"
It was really good & the children were transfixed for a good deal of the time - David Cameron took his family there last week, so he can't be all bad.
T & KP came home with us for a sleepover & today have helped with clearing the 27 Xmas trees from church, collecting eggs & badger hunting in the field.
I'm praying that the chickens oblige with a couple of eggs in the morning as there was great excitement this morning when T collected his own (enormous) egg for breakfast.

The salmon & baked pasta is all finished, so we can start afresh on the food - tomorrow J is coming for the day, Th is back at school.
We plan a late lunch at McD in Solihull, then collecting Th - great fun all round, I hope.