Mr C and I have come back from spending a fantastic weekend with our friends C and P who live in Hampshire. It was great being able to spend time with friends (H and D also joining us down there for the weekend) and reminded me of just how important these friends are. On Saturday we were treated by fantastic weather and spent the afternoon outdoors. As we don't have garden ourselves eating lunch outside is quite a novelty. Time was also spent collecting apples from the many fruit trees in their garden. C's plans for apple chutney should certainly be met - although if she uses all ... read more
Archives for August 2008
Weekend plans
Today we're heading to see friends who live in the countryside. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to get away for a couple of days and spend quality time with people that I care about and don't get to see often enough.Enjoy your weekend. ... read more
Dead Victorians
On Tuesday night Mr C and I headed down to the White Lion pub in St Albans where there is regular Tuesday night music. Last night we were delighted to see Dead Victorians, a fantastic comedy group playing a variety of songs, some old and some new. The comedy lyrics are a key part of their act, along with an amazing variety of instruments that the band play. If you like the music of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band or The Temperance Seven then you're in for a treat!If you go to their MySpace page there are samples of some of their music. Some of the lyrics are a tad risque, but had everyone ... read more
de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre
Another place that Mr C and I visited on Bank Holiday Monday was the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre just outside St Albans. This is somewhere that we've seen the signs for as we've been driving out ever since we moved here, but just never got round to visiting until now.The museum quite simply tells the story of the de Havilland aircraft company that were based locally in Hatfield for many years. It is also home to the famous Mosquito Aircraft Museum which tells the story of the Mosquito and its role in the Second World War.There were several things that caught my eye as I ... read more
Scott’s Grotto
The internet is a wonderful thing, and without it we wouldn't have known about the wonderful place that Mr C and I visited on Bank Holiday Monday - Scott's Grotto in Ware. This most bizarre of places was built in the 1760s by the Quaker poet, John Scott and now lies between some modern houses on a normal looking residential street in the outskirts of Ware.The grotto consists of six subterranean rooms, connected by passages and ventilation shafts. The walls (and the ceiling and floors in some rooms) are all covered in flint, shells and minerals. It really is something that is so ... read more
Girl from the South – Joanna Trollope
I've enjoyed many Joanna Trollope books over the years and hence when I picked up Girl from the South in a charity shop I was quite excited about another similar read. Right from the start though this book is a bit different.The first section of this book is set in Charleston in the USA and we are introduced at this point to a character called Gillon and her family. For the whole of this first section though was incredibly confusing. There was a large number of characters introduced in a very short period and as I result I found myself very confused as to who was ... read more
Canons Ashby
On our way back from Bruntingthorpe on Saturday Mr C and I visited Canons Ashby in Northamptonshire. Here there is an Elizabethan manor house, gardens and the Priory Church of St Mary, all that remains of the Augustinian priory from which Canons Ashby takes its name.The interior of the church roof was a fantastic wooden structure that I completely fell in love with. There's something about things made out of wood that give them a lovely warm feeling that somehow seems so homely. Out in the grounds of the house is an orchard and also several apple and pear trees along a ... read more
Mr C’s Christmas Track Day
Back before last Christmas I had the usual problem of not knowing what to buy Mr C as a festive gift. Whenever I ask him for ideas for gifts he always comes out with the same answer - "A Porsche please!" Faced with this usual dilemma I went to google for some ideas. One thing that jumped out at me as a possibility was a driving experience and I was lucky enough to find a special offer with Drivers' Dream Days for a Porsche vs Ferrari Experience.Today Mr C and I headed up to Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground near Lutterworth in Leicestershire for him to ... read more
Pizza for supper
Mr C and I are rather caught up at the moment in trying to buy a house. With the current "credit crunch" situation here in the UK, it is far from the best time to be trying to do this. We've been wanting to take the next step in the housing ladder for a while now to allow us to start thinking about a family a bit further down the line. It's not easy though and the last week in particular has been quite stressful.We finally got to put an offer in on a place today though. The first offer was rejected (not unexpectedly) and we're currently waiting to hear back on our revised ... read more
Rain, rain, go away…
I know that lots of rain is good for some things but this is getting silly. Once again this morning I was faced with requiring an umbrella to get to the station. I don't normally mind a bit of rain, but it's August and it seems to have been raining for weeks! When I got home from work the other evening it was so wet and wild outside that it felt like November! I even had to put the heating on for a bit. When I next put clean sheets on the bed I'm planning to put the winter duvet back on. I'm not asking for hosepipe ban conditions, but a bit of sun for a few consecutive days ... read more