A weekend off

Marlo caught a mouse!!!! Now, I am not suggesting that this is the first mouse that Marlo has ever caught. It probably isn’t. But it’s the first I have seen him with. And I wouldn’t have had any idea that he had caught it, had I not seen him with it in the kitchen. He ate it all up. Every last bit. Down to the tip of its tail and its very last toenails. Seemed to enjoy it. But if he’s eating lots of mice it’s no wonder he’s getting fat. He eats his breakfast and dinner with every evidence of enjoyment too!

I wasn’t working over the weekend. Not working at all! So we went to Cambridge on Saturday.

Freyja came to Chesterfield on the train, we dropped into Autoworld to order some touch up paint for the car, and then we made our way across country via Mansfield and Newark on Trent down to Cambridge. There are still piggies on the Southwell/Newark Road. Very happy looking piggies We got mildly misplaced looking for Alex Wood Road when we got to Cambridge, but got there eventually, collected Gareth and made our way to Anglesey Abbey just outside of town, where we were meeting Peter and Joan for lunch. We were pulling into the car park and I was just wondering if Jeremy and Jill would be there too, when I looked across and saw Jerry in his car. So that answered that, then. Peter was ambling about in the car park as well. Joan was sensibly sat in the car, out the way of the bracing wind! The Builder and I recognised the road that Anglesey Abbey is on just as soon as we turned onto it. It's a pretty little road and runs through Swaffham Bulbeck where we stayed in the Black Horse about 12 months ago.

The restaurant in Anglesey Abbey is being renovated. Hasn’t altered the quality of the food, though. The Builder, Gareth and I all had lamb shanks. Freyja had a vegetable and stilton pie. Joan and Peter had cottage pie. But what has happened to Jerry, Jill, James and Dominic? They seem to have been eaten by the lunch monster. Seems that there was a difficulty getting a cheese sandwich for James which had actual cheese rather than spreading cheese on it. Then they ran out of cottage pie for Jeremy. Then they ran out of vegetables. Then they ran out ….. The rest of us were nearly finished by the time they all managed to reach the table!

The garden at Anglesey Abbey is large, spacious and very beautiful. They have a lovely winter garden (not an inside one, a garden planted up with interesting plants for winter). Joan and Peter went for a gentle potter. The rest of us went for a proper walk around. I have been before. A couple of times, I think. Always in or around November. I really must try to come during the spring or summer, when the house is open. It looks gorgeous and I have never been in it. I do wish the National Trust wouldn’t close all its houses over the winter! The water mill was open, though not milling. Nevertheless, I came away with some wholemeal flour, some oatmeal and a little cook book. Freyja has wholemeal flour too. And the little cook book. Then we met up with Peter and Joan and had a gentle potter in the shop before we all parted and went our separate ways. As well as the flour, I now also have a dogwood plant and a small orb on a stick which is supposed to glow in the dark.

Peter and Joan are looking remarkably well and seem very happy. Jeremy, Jill and the boys also seem well and reasonably happy, except that Jerry’s school is being restructured and he has to reapply for his job. Unfortunately, there are 5 or 6 people going for 2 jobs so he is a bit apprehensive.

We’ve been to the Cambridge market. Unfortunately, the seafood and cheese stalls had closed by the time we got there, but I got a fabulous chicken for dinner that evening, and some odd bits for our freezer and loads of bread. And some orange juice which I saw being squeezed with my very own eyes.

We met Taffa in the pub she’s working in and had a pint each. The Builder and Gareth had a real ale. I had a real cider. Didn’t taste of much when you first swallowed it. So gulped some more. Then the aftertaste kicked in. Pfffffffff. There went my hair and ears! Then we all went back to their place where I roasted the chicken and some potatoes and cooked up the veg Gaz had bought in the market stall. Then we ate the roast chicken. Freyja had a quorn fillet. Then we went home, dropping Freyja off at her place, before making our way back to The Sidings and back to bed.

We saw a badger on the way home!! Wombling along the side of the road.

Sunday was a lovely, leisurely day. No need to bounce out of bed at 5:15. No need to bounce out of bed at all. So we didn’t. We ddin’t get up until after 9! We pottered about. We ambled. We pootled. We walked down to the wetlands to see what was there (swans and seagulls. No ducks). We went home and had a cup of tea. We drifted into Chesterfield to see if the Julian Graves shop was open so I could get the fruit for the Christmas Chutney. It wasn’t. So we wandered along to the Darley Dale Road at Stone Edge and had a fantastic Sunday Roast at the Famous Red Lion (http://www.thefamousredlion.com/index.html). This was the start, the very, very start of our Sunday Lunch explorations. A bit slow, some people. We’ve been in The Sidings for five months now! But it was well worth the wait. The beef was local and beautifully cooked. The roasties were fluffy and crisp. The vegetables were well cooked. The cider was well kept. We will definitely go there again. I would probably give it 4 out of 5 stars. The can have an extra prong of a star when they start selling real cider as well as real ale. It’s very popular (not surprisingly) and out on a wind swept edge with nothing much around it. Amazing what ou sometimes find in out of the way places. We shall all have to go one Sunday! Then we went across the moor in gathering drizzle to the Julian Graves in Rowsley. Went to the farm shop near the pub on the way back for cheese and stuff, then to play in the DIY stores in Chesterfield. And so home for a cup of tea and a gentle rest-of-the-afternoon. I do like Sundays, especially restful ones. I must remember not to work quite so many of them next semester!

I think things are progressing with the purchase of the land at the back. The Builder spoke to the owner during the week and all seems serene -- at the moment! The Builder is pondering where to get posts to run the fencing across. Keep fingers and toes crossed, however.

Right. Another busy week teaching. Will check back later.