More Luck than I Deserve...?

A really lovely, relaxing Easter holiday came and went.

The troop was gathered and I have to say I really enjoyed just being home with the family.

The days were spent with good food, long walks, knitting, talking and sleeping.

 

But I wonder if I might have used up this year's allotted portion of good luck.

Just listen to this:

 

On Saturday we took the Student and the in-laws for a meal at our favourite Turkish restaurant Efes. I had booked the table for 5.45 as this was the only time they could fit us in. We were fortunate enough to get a parking space right in front of the restaurant. As we were tucking in to the meze that was appearing in front of us (soooo gooooood!) I happened to cast an eye out of the window and saw to my horror a parking attendant looking at the car! I knew I had not paid for parking as I thought it was free after 5 pm. I couldn't even manage to speak, just squeaked and bolted out the door with napkin in hand and food in my mouth. All the charm I possibly could possess was mustered and believe it or not - he let me off the hook! Parking was payable till 6.30, so I ran in again and the kind waiters were offering me coins to put on the meter.

Lucky escape no 1!

 

borrowed from the web

 

The next day we decided to walk along The Backs and through King's College to look at the lovely daffodils and tourists. Even if we live in walking distance to town, my in-laws can't manage to walk too far so we drove and parked in a nearby road to the entry to the college from the Backs. It is a fairly long road, and we were parked about mid-way. We proceeded on foot in to town and my charm came to full force again when I manage to convince the kind guardsman to let me bring all three of my guests (University employees can normally bring 2 free guests).

 

Town was packed and we enjoyed Afternoon Tea at Harriet's. Tip: the portions are so generous - we ordered for 3 (even if we were 4) and even managed to bring home a small doggy bag as we just couldn't finish it all.

 

borrowed from the web
On the way back we leisurely walked over Garret Hostel Bridge on Burrel's Walk and looked at the people punting. We had been out for about 3 hours when we entered on to the street where I had parked the car. I suddenly noticed a couple examining the parking meter and saw to my horror that parking was payable ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. It being Sunday I thought parking was free and I had not paid anything... I then saw the dreaded sight of parking attendants making their way down from the other end of the street! Without a word to my family, I started running LIKE MAD towards our car which was mid way between me and the parking attendant.... Suddenly the hours spent in the gym came into force and I sped to the car, delighted to see they had not reached our car yet and just jumped in and drove down to the family who by now realised what had happened...
Lucky escape no 2!

So, lesson from this Easter: start paying attention to parking regulations and parking meters...!

 

 

 

Restaurant Review: Pierino, South Kensington

picture borrowed from the web

I had a business meeting in London yesterday. It doesn't happen very often, but a couple of times a year I go to London to discuss investments and money with the company's trustees. Sounds important, doesn't it..?!

 

;-)

 

The more fun part of these London trips is when I can meet up with The Student to have a nice catch-up and dinner! I went to meet him close to his halls of residence and he took me to one of his favourite local Italian restaurants - Pierino (37 Thurloe Place, London SW7 2HP) - for dinner. I thought I would mention this as a useful tip as the restaurant is by South Kensington tube station and just around the corner from all the lovely (free) science museums in London. Not that London lacks places to eat, but this was a very successful visit.

 

We shared a duo of bruschetta for starters and then for main course we both had "Pappardelle Machiavelli" which was "home made princess pasta with smoked salmon and fresh spinach in a cream and white wine sauce". The starter was fine, but the main course was truly one of the very best pasta dishes I have ever tasted. The pasta was amazingly fresh and I gather that princess pasta is long flat strand of pasta - a bit like if you were to cut up a sheet of lasagne plates. The flavour was intense with the right amount of salmon and spinach and without too much white wine sauce which often tends to drown the dish. It was so lovely, but left no room for dessert...

 

 I am afraid I didn't take any pictures, but I will certainly be back.

 

We both drank fizzy water and the bill came to just over £30 for the both of us.

You can't complain about that for a truly gorgeous meal.

 

So, in short - a highly recommended place!

 



Going to the Theatre: The Play That Goes Wrong!

 

Happy New Year!

 

We have had a lovely Christmas and New Year celebration with loads of food, drink and merriment! Christmas parties, walks, talks, snacking, knitting, reading, tv-watching and sleeping! That summarises the last two weeks pretty well. I 'packed away' Christmas on the weekend and we are now back to 'normal'. One remaining guest is still with us for one more day, but the Student and the Professor are both back in their universities and I started work again today.

Felt ok, to be honest. Must be a sign that it was a sufficiently long and relaxing break!

 

Just wanted to give a tip if you are going to London any time soon:

We started a new family tradition last year where we go to London for a weekend either before or after Christmas to stay in a hotel and go and see a play. This time the three of us went the weekend before Christmas and saw "The Play That Goes Wrong" at the Duchess Theatre in Covent Garden. The Professor and I conveniently stayed at the Grange Strathmore in Kensington, close to where the Student now lives and it was a nice hotel. Apparently, it used to be the London residence for the late Queen Mother's father (sold in about 1898)!

 

But about the play: the website explains: The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempt to put on a 1920s’ murder mystery in Havisham Manor, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong… does, as the accident prone thesps battle on against all the odds to get to their final curtain call. This brilliant new laugh out loud comedy performed by Mischief Theatre Company has enjoyed two successful runs in the West End and was the sell out smash hit of the Edinburgh Festival with its sensational reviews, numerous accolades and awards. The Play That Goes Wrong is guaranteed to leave you aching with  laughter!

And it did. A lot of slap-stick humour - really great fun and well acted. We all particularly enjoyed Dave Hearn in the role as "Max Bennett" and Henry Shields as "the director Chris Bean". Here is the trailer:

 

 

 

 

 



Easter Visit to Anglesey-Abbey

As Our Boy was revising for upcoming exams, the Professor and I spent Good Friday exploring the National Trust property Anglesey-Abbey.

We are frequent visitors to some of the other National Trust properties in the region, but this was our first trip to Anglesey-Abbey.

It won't be the last.

The place was brimming with little children on their Easter Egghunt, but since we no longer have small children we steered away from the excited crowd and followed the path through the winter garden, to the Mill and then to the manor house itself.

Anglesey-Abbey started out as a priory, but was bought in the 1920s by Lord Fairhaven who transformed the place to a country estate. He had a passion for tradition and impressing guests and this inspired him to transform a run-down country house and desolate landscape.Life revolved around horse racing and shooting, and guests enjoyed 1930s luxury.The estate was given to the National Trust in the late 1960s.

The gardens are truly spectacular with planting for all seasons The path twists and turns and you don't know what is around the corner. We were completely struck with surprise when we found this little area with naked birch trees. The atmosphere was almost a bit eerie among these trees, but I can hardly wait to see it in full bloom in the summer!

The property also contains a working mill where we chatted with the miller and bought some of his freshly milled flour. At £2.25 for 1.5kg there was nothing to complain about!

A lovely walk, great company and a visit to a beautiful house rounded off with tea and scones in the visitor's centre.What more can you want on a chilly spring day?

Deception...

I went up to Durham on Saturday to help The Professor settle in to the rental house we have got him while we wait for the sale in Edinburgh to go through and while we look for something new to buy. I really enjoy these train rides. A bit of luxery to have 3.5 hrs to myself, just sitting reading or crocheting!

This is apparently the oldest University building in the world still in use, from 1027. Nope, it is neither the house we are renting nor the house we went to view... :-)

Glorious weather and lovely with some alone time with The Professor

♥

The house is fine and within walking distance to town and office. But it is a rental, so it takes a little effort to make it more 'home'.

 

On Sunday we went to view a house for sale. It was a big disappointment, to be honest. It is really annoying to see how the estate agents use wide angle lenses to make rooms look bigger...

Makes me really annoyed, actually!

 

But we should be patient.

This was the first house we viewed so I guess we should listen to the quote saying

patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet...



Waiting for Spring - at Chippenham Park

As you can see, the snow has disappeared. It is one week between the pictures in this post as to the previous one.

Not that it feels much different. It is still pretty cold...

On Sunday I went with some friends to Chippenham Park to see the snowdrops in bloom. I had never heard of Chippenham Park before - always a delight to learn of new exciting places after all these years.

Chippenham Park is a large country house dating back to the 17th century with vast gardens, lakes and a beautiful park with lots of statues of different animals surprising us as we walked along. The owners open the gardens to the public only certain times of the year, but the property is also used for weddings and special events. I can see this is a special place, although bitterly cold as we walked around. I will definitely come back. Perhaps on a warmer and sunnier day around the beginning of April when the daffodils should be out?

Oh! I can't wait for spring!!!

Grumpy Country Bumpkin...?

Just loooove this area of London...

Our Boy and I went to the Norwegian embassy in London yesterday to renew his passport which is due to run out in January. The consulate services and passport office got new locations (still same building) three weeks ago and it is all very smart! Must also say the people there are lovely and very helpful. It was quick and efficient and the new passport will be mailed us when it is ready. Good news is also that the new passport will now be valid for 10 years. No more going to the embassy with him every 3 years...!

 

We also found some time for shopping for the young man.

☺

 But I feel a need to vent:

I am rather annoyed with certain shops. Particularly those where you are met at the door by a bunch of scantily clad overly-excited-super-informal-and-way-too-familiar-for-my-liking young male shop attendants (and some young ladies) dancing away to deafening music (it is IMPOSSIBLE to talk inside the shop), dressed in OPEN SHIRTS and flip flops (hello! it is NOVEMBER!!! - OK, I KNOW it is part of the 'uniform') in premises so dark that you have to feel your way around the room...coming up to within an inch of your personal space and asking whether they can
 

"Help you guys with anything?".

 

It didn't help my mood as we were leaving we were surrounded by chorus of
 

"So nice seeing you guys"

"Thank you guys for shopping with us."

"Hope you guys have a nice day".

"Hope to see you guys again real soon"
 

coming from 10-15 attendants whose job clearly is just to smooch (and annoy) the customers!

 

Nah, it made me really grumpy!

 

This is not the way NORMAL people behave on this island.

I know the brand is not British, but this kind of behaviour really doesn't work here!

It just seems sooooo fake!

 

I grant that the quality of the clothes are good (the jeans Our Boy bought last year still look brand new!), but

 

I do not want more-than-half-my-age-over-the-top-eager-shop-attendants try to make me feel hip and young...

I do not want to be called 'you guys'.

I do not want people to pretend they care about me when I perfectly well know they couldn't care less, except for what is in my wallet!

And I HATE loud music in shops!

I just leave then - I can't think!

 

Don't worry.

I swallowed my annoyance and didn't embarrass my teenage son who did get what he came for.

☺

And on Sunday I am off to London again!

But that will be a different trip!

♥

Weekend Summary and Welcome to the World!

doesn't happen often that we can't finish off a SHARED dessert...!

And we are back to Monday after an eventful weekend...!
 

After dropping Our Boy off at a party, the Professor and I kicked off the weekend with a visit to the restaurant in the hotel The Cross Keys in Saffron Walden on Friday evening. Lovely place (Elizabethan building going back 850 years!) with great atmosphere, amazing food and also the possibility of spending the night as they offer 6 rooms. Really worth a visit (check out the link)! Obviously a very popular place as it was packed and we were just lucky to get a table.

 

On Saturday Our Boy went to his weekend job stacking shelves in a nearby supermarket. His shift is  every Saturday evening from 5 pm till 11 pm. Fortunately, most of his social life happens on Fridays and his still manages to have a proper lie-in on both Saturday and Sunday and to finish off home-work, so win-win!

☺

I also managed to go through my wardrobe this weekend and had a much needed clean-up and packed away the summer clothes. 5 big bags of old clothes are going to the recycling bins! There was so much I had not worn for years and it became clear that I would never wear them again as I seem to have shrunk (nice bonus ☺).

 

It feels good to free up the space particularly when thinking of possibly refurbishing the bedroom this fall. No need to keep things that just take up space and is never in use!

The weekend was rounded off with a good dose of Downton Abbey. I won't spoil it for those who have not seen this episode, but I will just say my eyes were still puffy this morning from all the crying last night...
 But the biggest and brightest news of the weekend was that our new little friend was born in Zurich on Friday.

So sweet and so very, very welcome!

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

 

Walking With A Good Friend

We had friends from Norway visiting last weekend. I forgot the camera so the pictures are taken with my phone and not very good. I find it hard to see what I am actually taking a picture of when using the phone. Well, better than nothing!

With glorious weather and temperatures close to 30 degrees we didn't spend much time indoors.

On our way to Grantchester we stumbled across a fair.



Some medieval fighting reenactment is often part of these events...

I think one was supposed to be Scottish and one was supposed to be English...

I have no idea who won...

But we left them fighting and continued on our way down to Wimpole Hall

 

And ended up by the Folly.

One of my favourite destinations!

♥

It is not 30 degrees here anymore.

It was actually distinctly chilly this morning.

 

Might get a move one and make some fingerless mittens, I think!

Autumn is upon us!

I don't mind, actually!

☺

Our Olympic Weekend

Thursday afternoon all three of us went off to London to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and for The Professor and Our Boy to go and watch the rowing finals at Eton Dorney.

We started off in Notting Hill browsing the rather empty shops. It was sooo quiet and so not like the London I tend to find too stressful.

It was rather peaceful looking in the shops...

Aren't these soap dishes beautiful? Too bad we don't really use soap bars in our house but instead liquid soap...

We stopped at Hummingbird bakery for a "small" taste, but tried to contain ourselves for dinner which we had in a Lebanese restaurant in Edgeware road . That is apparently were all the people were! It was really packed, but no wonder as the food was lovely and abundant!

We then headed to our hotel in Slough, chosen because it is close to Eton Dorney where the rowing was taking place early Friday morning. I can't really say anything about Slough since our hotel was right next to the train station (no noise, actually) so we didn't really see much of the place.

As I didn't have a ticket for the rowing, The Professor and Our Boy took off early in the morning while I enjoyed a leisurely lie-in before I took the train into London and spent 4 (!) hours in the Victoria and Albert museum. Those of you who follow me on Instagram might have seen some of the pictures I posted there. It was my first time at the V&A and I so enjoyed getting lost there. Amazing museum and building! I also discovered that exploring a museum is best done alone...!

The Olympic games have really taken over the country and there is little talk of anything else in our house. London was as I said very quiet. I think all the warnings about 1 million extra visitors a day had scared people off and the expected pandemonium led those that could to escape from town. It was evident that many shops had geared up with extra staff for a crowd that never reached them. However, I think the games will still be good business for the country long term and the tourists will come after the games.

I managed a quick trip to a bead store in Covent Garden before the guys called and said they were exhausted, happy and wanted to go home. So, I got on the tube to King's Cross train station where the troop reunited and they told me all about their adventures while we sat on the train back home.

And we all agreed it had been a great trip!

:-) 



A Hidden Gem...

The Plough, Fen Ditton

A while ago I had bought tickets for us via Groupon for a different type of river cruise. Punting is the norm here in town, but this was a trip on a barge outside of town.

I suddenly remembered these tickets and as they expire soon, The Professor and I decided that today was the day for a river cruise! The weather didn't start out too great, but hey! this is England - it is bound to rain at some point in the day so that can't stop us!

The boat left from The Plough in Fen Ditton, a pub previously unknow to us. We found the place and it turned out to be a gorgeously charming place. But before exploring the pub any further a handful of people joined us on the most relaxing river cruise ever. This picture is from one of the properties we passed. It had also once been a pub, but it was now privately owned.

There were lots of gorgeous properties along the river and loads of birds with the young ones.

There were also groups of rowers training on the river. Our Boy rows for his school and they regularly come down this end of the river. Our guide told us about 200 boats train on the river every day. It is always a concern to find a balance between the rowers and the local wild life.

Further down the river, closer to town we passed several riverboats. Looks lovely on a summer's day, but not sure I would like it in the cold and damp winter...

The weather perked up and we passed a group of people having a party in their garden along the river. Unfortunately, they only waved to us, but didn't invite us in

:-)





We also got some attention from the cows along the bank who studied us with interest. Apparently, there is an old ancient law that allows the cows to graze in the fields around town and also in the park close to our house.

The cruise returned to the pub from where it had started and more people had arrived to join the next cruise. It only takes 45 minutes - perfect to work up an appetite!

So, we ended our day out with a lovely lunch at the pub!

This is definetely a place I will take guests next time anybody comes over!

I love discovering hidden gems, even after all the years in my corner of England!



Visiting the UK: Lavenham

The Professor and I went exploring to the medieval village of Lavenham in Suffolk this bank holiday. Lavenham is in particular noted for its 15th century church and half-timbered medieval cottages. There was an art festival going on, but to be honest we didn't see much of it.

It was a grey day and although there were some people walking about, it seemed like the oomph had gone out of the place or perhaps it just is a very sleepy village...? I just think they could have put on a bit more activities in the market square when they had a festival going on to bring in more people.

Anyway, we still enjoyed walking around looking at the cottages and popping in to some antique shops on the high street. A very 'dangerous' activity..., but we were good and just enjoyed browsing!

A quick lunch was also had in a local tea shop.

☺

So, to summarise - a cute place which could have made more out of it self.

Perhaps I will give it another chance on a sunnier day...!

Lilac Time!

Relaxing Bank Holiday!

We met with friends coming up from Paris, went to the old medieval village of Lavenham and did some gardening.

Perfect!

The lilac is now blooming in the garden even if the temperature doesn't quite tell us it is May. The rain still keeps pouring down, but I have chosen to see it as a blessing for the garden...

So since things are growing in the garden, we must be heading 'in the right direction'.
☺

I am a bit curious to see how this year's tomato plants will be. I got a new grafted variety giving two types of tomatoes on the same plant. Apparently, they grow faster and is less needy of lots of light and sunshine. If the rain we have had lately is anything to go by, it might be just as well to get some hardier tomatoes for this climate...

I only got the tomatoes this time at the garden centre. Will need to think about the chilies soon too. Perhaps I will try something new this year - cucumber, perhaps?

So, what are you growing in your garden this year?

Once Upon a Time....Baddesley Clinton

It felt like stepping into a fairy tale visiting another National Trust property - Baddesley Clinton (west of Stratford-upon-Avon)...

A medieval moated manor from the 15th century!

A REAL MOAT...!

 The house used to be a haven for persecuted Catholics and so far three priest's holes have been found.

Again, it was a cold day, but our lovely, inspirational guide made history come alive!

Note the clock in the top left corner - it only has one hand... People didn't need to know time any more accurately than that in the old days...

It was so enjoyable walking around the house and imagining how it must have been living there. Cold, is the first thought that comes to mind. Although, there was a roaring fire in the main hall, it didn't give off much heat to the room...

Mmmm... we got hungry walking around the kitchen where they had laid out the common ingredients of the time.

But we had to leave the fairy tale place...

I would love to go again (on a warmer day)

But our explorations didn't stop there. My fellow travelers are the best travel companions you could wish for - always up for leaving the beaten track and exploring something new. It is so much fun and you never know what the day will bring.

So, it was typical when on the way back home again one of us spotted a sign that looked interesting and shouted

'STOP'!

This looked too intriguing to rush past and we discovered Castle Ashby- just about an hour away from our home. The castle is not open to the public, but there are lovely gardens you can visit. As we arrived shortly before closing we didn't get to explore this estate in any great detail, but it will be on the list for another roadtrip!

So, this concludes my summary of this Easter's roadtrip.

I am already looking forward to next year's trip!