Wednesday 30th December
And so to another Sunday lunch, this time roast hogget with Barb and Greg at Barb’s cute cottage in Warminster.
Mind you, we had quite a bit of fun getting there. Jenny said it would take about an hour from West Dean to Barb’s place so we thought: OK. We’ll leave a little earlier, call into Waitrose, pick up a few bits and pieces and then saunter slowly on to Warminster, taking our time, enjoying the misty, wintry views.
We decided to meander along some of the narrow, winding country lanes around West Dean, meeting up with the main road at the pretty little village of Whiteparish. And then - we certainly had plenty of time to admire the misty view of the Salisbury Cathedral spire as the traffic ground to an abrupt halt near Whaddon. We inched our way to where two lanes merge into one. We crawled to where they are building a new park and ride. But it wasn’t roadworks holding us up. No - it was the Tesco roundabout. Which is only going to be worse once the park and ride opens in the spring!
It has to be said, though, that the traffic all around Salisbury was absolute bedlam. The Waitrose car park was completely chaotic. We grabbed a parking space that became free as we were nearing, ran in, grabbed a few things, then cautiously put ourselves back into the traffic, hoping that we weren’t going to be too much later than our ETA.
As we passed The Swan @ Stoford, it was very tempting to stop, ring Barb and invite her and Greg to join us there. But no. We had been promised hogget. We persevered. And the traffic cleared, more or less, and we arrived at Barb’s door a fashionable ten minutes late.
And we had a lovely afternoon. The fire was lit and was very cheerful. We had delicious food, nice wine, plenty of chat, and a small cat to play with. The hogget was scrumptious and was accompanied by roast potatoes and roasted winter vegetables. And once again, suddenly the afternoon had passed, darkness had come upon us, and it was time to come back to West Dean.
And to another evening where lunch had been so delicious and so filling that there really wasn’t need for another proper meal. Although - I am not sure that twiglets, biscuits and chocolate really make a proper supper! Would have had eggs on toast, except we had had eggs for breakfast. And the baked beans are back in Tupton!!
We are quite enjoying staying in our little studio flat above the old barn, out in the middle of nowhere. The lack of internet and phone signal is a little frustrating for me. And the cooking facilities are definitely frustrating. There is a small belling oven with hot plates. This wouldn’t be frustrating at all, except that only the small hot plate works, and although the oven works I am not convinced that the grill does. Trying to create crispy bacon this morning made me come close to throwing the whole thing out the window. Except that the kitchenette doesn’t have a window, so all was safe!! But it is probably just as well that Ian is not here. And possibly that we are not really eating here.
The Builder and I appear to have acquired sneezes and runny noses. I would suggest hay fever, except that late December would be a very odd time to get it
Thursday 31st December
Today we were off to the seaside, to Lyme Regis to meet Farishta for lunch. We decided to leave plenty of time so we could just amble there, and we decided to go via Dorchester and to come back via Shaftesbury. So off we set, through cloud but not rain and not even much wind. And we had a lovely drive through the Dorset countryside, and made extremely good time. The Dorset drivers were, on the whole, being much better behaved than the ones in Salisbury yesterday.
So we went for a potter in the shops and then made our way up towards the Post Office, where we were to meet Farishta. My mobile phone rang - using the Sci-Fi alarm it uses to remind me to talk to Tony on Skype on Thursday evenings. This caused me immense confusions because it happens it WAS Thursday, but it certainly wasn’t Thursday evening! I looked at it. It was Ian’s mobile ringing mine! All the way from Daylesford, where he, Lindsey and Simon had repaired to celebrate the New Year. In a torrential rainstorm. Accompanied by thunder and lightning. And hopeful that the rain was also being energetic over Ballarat where, unbeknownst to them at the time, a vigorous bushfire had made a determined (but unsuccessful) attempt to burn down Lindsey and Ian’s house and dogs. So that was a very exciting converstation, as The Builder and I were wandering around a chilly, grey but dry Lyme Regis!!
In the middle of all this excitement, Farishta appeared and we took ourselves off to a rather nice cafe in the old Mill, where I had a pleasingly light baked egg with smoked pollack, leeks, cheese and toast, Farishta had smoked salmon and The Builder had a bowl of savoury mince and potatoes. It was all very tasty. We had some wine, a good chat, some cake and a general catch up, and then we went for a wander around town and along the windy seafront and then up and around the gardens overlooking the bay. It was good to see Farishta. We keep in touch through email, blogs and Facebook, but only really see each other for a couple of hours once or twice a year. Might see if I can organise a long weekend in the early summer, before the schools beak up and come down for a longer visit.
Today, however, we were slightly pressed for time, because we were due in Whiteley sometime after six and needed to get back to West Dean first before heading out again. So we farewelled Farishta at the car park and had a good trip back, heading first towards Shaftesbury and then along the A303 towards Salisbury. So a nice coverage of the Dorset countryside today. I like Dorset!
Then we had a quick change around (clean clothes, a wash, a cup of tea) before heading to Whiteley for a New Year’s Eve dinner with Jeanette, Matthew, Rebecca and Evie. Also there were (now pay attention at the back) Jeanette’s brother (and thus The Builder’s son) Ian and his daughter Sophie, her parents-in-law Mike and Rosie, and her mother (and thus one of The Builder’s multiplicity of wives) Pip and Pip’s husband Tom. See - not complicated at all, if you pay attention!
We had a good evening. There was lots of chat and laughter. Lots of beverages both alcoholic and non. There was lots of food. It was good to catch up with everyone. We hadn’t seen Ian since August, although we do speak on the phone. We hadn’t seen or spoken to Mike and Rosie since August. I think the last time we saw Pip was at The Builder’s dad’s funeral. And I can’t remember the last time we saw Tom. So that was all good. Oh - and I even managed to have my regular Thursday evening chat with Tony. Having told him that I would be offline and unavailable, I ealised that if I took my laptop to Whiteley, it was unlikely that Matthew or Jeanette would object to me using their wi-fi to Skype New Year greetings to m’parents!
It was a pity we couldn’t stay to see in the New Year with them all, but we were at least 45 minutes from our bed, and there was no saying what the motorway would be like if we left later (in fact, at 10 pm on New Years Eve, the M27 was virtually empty). And I most emphatically did not want to be out on the motorway after midnight on New Year’s Eve/Day. On top of that, the gritters had been out working hard when we had set out, and there had been a bit of rain in Wiltshire. And the lanes to West Dean are not gritted. We didn’t want to be swishing around on ice! So we greeted the Whiteley Revellers by text message and saw the New Year in in our garret flat (what *is* the difference between a garret and an attic) with a rather nice wine. At least, The Builder saw in the New Year. I saw it in from my comfy bed with my eyes closed!!
And now here we are, emblazoned in sunshine, greeting the squeaky clean 2010 with brewed coffee and happy hearts. Hope it’s a good one for all of you too
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