We are in a nice cosy room, in a nice cosy bed, with warm cups of tea in the Swan@Stoford. Outside it is foggy and coolish. I shall stay in here with my cup of tea and my Hot Water Builder until it is time to go down for breakfast. I booked us in for a late breakfast this morning :-)
We came down yesterday for The Builder’s sister-in-law, Jenny’s 60th birthday party.
Before we left, though, we dashed about at home doing tidying and cleaning things (or I did - The Builder sat in bed and played with my MacBook). Then we went and watered the allotment, dropped a parcel in the post and then headed down, asking Jenny the Sat Nav (not Jenny The Builder’s sister-in-law!) to avoid the M1. It was a lovely trip. Took us down the A61 towards Derby along quite a pretty route and then we joined the M6 toll road. We don’t usually use the toll road; it’s not really on the way unless we are avoiding the M1. Nobody else uses it either, in order to avoid paying £4.50 for the privilege. In my opinion, it’s £4.50 well spent. You get a beautifully built, fairly new, nearly empty road to drive along, until you reach the M40 near Birmingham.
Actually, we had quite a good run all round. Not a great deal of traffic anywhere, until we got to Salisbury itself, where the traffic was very heavy! Still, we got to Gwen’s place (that’s The Builder’s mother - pay attention up the back!!) at about the time we had expected to, changed into our party clothes and took ourselves off to the party, which was at The Builder’s niece’s place at Ringwood in the New Forest.
There were lots of people there! The Builder’s sister Marie was there with her lot. His daughter Jeanette was there with her lot. There were oodles of people that I didn’t know and some I had met once or twice before. The Builder’s son Ian wasn’t there. I think his invitation must not have reached him. He didn’t know about it when we spoke to him earlier in the week and I know an invitation had been sent. His brother Peter wasn’t there either but that was because he chose not to go.
We were extremely lucky with the weather. It was foggy yesterday morning when we got up in Tupton. Gwen says it was foggy in Salisbury too. But by party time the day had cleared to glorious sunshine and it was nice and warm. I was very, very glad to find a spit roasted pig sizzling away. All I had had to eat all day was three Cape Gooseberries (Chinese Lanterns, Physalis, however you know them) from the greenhouse. They were very tasty but only about the size of a finger tip so not entirely substantial. By half three, four o’clock, I was very hungry !! So was The Builder, even though he had had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. But he hadn’t had any morning tea or lunch so was more than ready for roast pork rolls with various salads, then more roast pork rolls with more salads, then jelly and trifle and ice cream. I had wine with mine. The Builder had Fanta; there was still a fair bit of driving to do.
By half past six it was getting chilly and Gwen was looking a bit tired. We took her home and trundled to Stoford to the Swan. Topped up The Builder’s wine levels and then went down for supper. I wasn’t at all ready for anything substantial. The Builder can always manage a little spot of something. He had shepherd’s pie. I had the soup of the day, which was a really lovely Vietnamese style chicken and noodle soup which a side bowl of salad greens. It was exactly what I needed!
It was a good day. We had expected to be in York this weekend at the food and wine festival. We cancelled our hotel booking in York when we got the invitation to the party. I’m glad we did. It was a good afternoon.
I had a really weird dream last night. I was off somewhere for a work activity with Roger. For reasons that don’t make much sense I took my Mac, my back pack and my red country road bag full of hippos that belong to Freyja. I lost Roger :-( Then I found a room with some Housing academics. I popped in to speak to them, leaving all my bags at the door. The room turned into an aeroplane and disappeared for a sightseeing tour of wherever we were - leaving my Mac, my back pack and all the hippos behind :-S Mercifully I woke up (deeply anxious, it must be said!) before I had to explain to Freyja where a bag load of her hippos had gone
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