Autumn Colours…

This time of year the trees are showing their final colourful display and we went to the RHS gardens at Wisley to see the vivid yellows, oranges and reds of the leaves. It was a party like atmosphere there in the glorious sunshine as people wandered around the site looking at the plants, the tractor display and the apple and pear stands where you could taste many of the varieties grown there. It was a lovely afternoon and our spirits were buoyed up by being out in the fresh air.

Celebration Meal…

We went out to meet the Brown’s in Sutton for a Chinese meal at Heens to celebrate Chris’s new job. He was rightly very excited about it and everyone was happy and hungry which was just as well as we had a full table of food to work our way through.

Fine Food and Fine Company…

We meet up with some of the Jackson’s who were in town after visiting Essen and before they carried on their journeys. We went to the Manor Clapham for a degustation tasting menu dinner which was very interesting. Not all of the combinations of tastes and textures worked in our opinion but overall it was a very good, with friendly service and good company.

Beer, Sausages and Board Games…

It was time again for the annual pilgrimage to the board game Mecca that is Spiel at Essen this time with added friends visiting from New Zealand along with the regulars from Europe that congregate at the friendly Handelshof Hotel in Mulheim.

The journey from Dusseldorf airport to Mulheim was a nightmare this time for several reasons; 1 – because I arrived on a later flight the ticket desk was closed and I could not navigate the ticket machine without a lot of assistance, 2- the local station had been damaged by fire so the trains were delayed, 3- the train that did arrive (and was supposed to stop at Mulheim) went an alternative route and I had to navigate back on the U-Bhan, arriving much later than anticipated. Don’t want to do that again.

We had a good time catching up with friends old and new, exploring the world of games, playing games, drinking and eating, and watching the occasional rugby match.

Some of the regulars are serious consumers of games buying them by the car load, if felt positively restrained purchasing the following:

-       Thunderbirds  - a co-op game that plays like Pandemic (lite) that can be quite hard. Dominant gamers can end up taking over if not careful;

-       New York 1901 – building skyscrapers to achieve the biggest and most prestigious addresses – a pretty game that played well;

-       Codenames– a fun party game of wordplay;

-       Celestia– another pretty game of fantastical exploration. Simple gambling – risk taking game that is family friendly;

-       Kitty Paw – a children’s game of pattern recognition and dexterity that can prove to be surprisingly difficult for adults;

-       The Game – a co-op team game with a very simple mechanic but difficult execution.

Adding to the Drink Shelf…

We recently became aware of a new local distillery that was making a rather tasty gin. The Silent Pool Distillery is just down the road next to the local attraction of the same name and they have the most wonderful brass, steampunk, still in their property that they are using to make a sublime gin. Apparently they are also in the process of making a whiskey and are contemplating ‘doing something with plums’. 

More Beer and Music…

The band Eclectix that we so enjoyed at the Star were playing at the Old House in Dorking and so we went along to listen while we enjoyed a few libations. Apparently I enjoyed a few more than I should have as I do not recall getting home that night and I made some new friends (of which I cannot remember). 

Beer and Music…

The Dorking Music Festival was held recently in town with events in squares and more importantly public houses of Dorking. Some of these establishments put on extra selection of beers to attract the customer and we spent a merry afternoon visiting several of them sample their wares and enjoying the diverse music.

Around the Computer Screen…

Due to our spread out locations and busy work and family schedules my gaming friends and I cannot often get together face-to-face to play board games and now we have found another alternative. Table Top Simulator allows us to create virtual copies of the board games that even include a certain amount of physics (dice rolling and table tipping). It takes a little while to get used to moving the counters and picking up cards with a mouse, but it is really quite a good compromise. 

Around a Table…

Occasionally I manage to get together with a few friends to play board games. And recently we ended up at James’s place where we played a few new and old favourites including:

Exploding Kittens – a mad and unpredictable party game;

Relic – a difficult and long game based in the Warhammer 40,000 universe;

Braggart – a quick and silly card game;

Forbidden island – a difficult (if played right) co-op game;

Martian Dice – a totally random gambling / push your luck game;

Farm Sounds…

Recently we went to a local music event called Front Room on the Farm. It is a small one day event that has blossomed from an intimate and select session in the farmstead’s front room (hence the name) to spread out into the field where 500 tickets were sold and the guests watched some interesting music from the comfort of their own chairs or the hay bales provided whilst partaking of picnics brought along or tasty food and local brewed/distilled beverages. It was a lovely little event. 

More wot I have read…

Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett

This was a touching book and even though I am a big fan of his writing I think anyone would appreciate his gentle and heartfelt words that give a bit of an insight to this lovely man.

‘Terry Pratchett has earned a place in the hearts of readers the world over with his bestselling Discworld series – but in recent years he has become equally well-known and respected as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer’s research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together for the first time the finest examples of Pratchett’s non fiction writing, both serious and surreal: from musings on mushrooms to what it means to be a writer (and why banana daiquiris are so important); from memories of Granny Pratchett to speculation about Gandalf’s love life, and passionate defences of the causes dear to him.

With all the humour and humanity that have made his novels so enduringly popular, this collection brings Pratchett out from behind the scenes of the Discworld to speak for himself – man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orang-utans and Dignity in Dying.’

Sun, Sea, Sue and Me…

As a delayed birthday treat for Sue we had a long weekend down on the Jurassic coast, basing ourselves at Lyme Regis in Dorset. We stayed the lovely Cleveland B&B; with only three bedrooms the owners provide a high quality personal service. The rooms were spotless and well equipped, the breakfasts fresh and tasty, it has its own off street parking and the owners are very helpful and caring of your needs. So much so that the other couples staying there were repeat customers over many years.

Lyme Regis is a delightful, old fashioned yet well healed seaside town with a lovely little beach, interesting shops and a lovely harbour (the Cobb – which featured in the French Lieutenants’ Woman).

On this weekend there was an Art Festival with local artists displaying their work in the parks, galleries and shops throughout the town. We had a ramble, stopping in at the local brewery and ending up buying a piece called ‘Tea at Lyme’ by Judy Edwards.

That evening we were booked in to have a meal at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage HQ for a meal and so we took a cab out into the countryside where we were met by a tractor and trailer to take us down to the farm. We were ushered into a yurt for a drink and canapés as the evening was outlined to us and told we had the freedom to explore the farm and kitchens until the appointed time to eat. We saw some of the produce, the old farmhouse used in the TV series, the training school and the converted barn dining room. The guests were sat at two long benches and we found ourselves next to some lovely couples who we got to know better as the series of dishes were brought out to us. The food was divine and the hours soon passed in a merry haze.

The weather was superb (in fact we ended up getting a bit of a tan spending nearly all of our time outdoors), and so we took advantage of this and travelled down the coast visiting Seaton where we wandered along the beach and watched the electric trams, Branscombe where we visited the old forge, mill  and walked down to the beach, Sidmouth where we did not stop as it was a real kiss-me-quick sort of place full of happy families, and on to Exmouth where we visited the intriguing A la Ronde sixteen sided National Trust house.

That evening we had booked a table at Mark Hix’s Oyster and Seafood House which sits on the hill overlooking the Cobb and bay and is a short walk from the B&B. The food was delicious, when we eventually got it, but the service atrocious – it took us nearly an hour to get our first drink and our menus and that was only after we prompted he staff (we noticed another couple leave after similar treatment). Once we were eating though everything else was fine and we tried some interesting fish dishes.

On the Sunday we checked out and visited a nearby Landmark Trust property called Belmont House which was lovely, before heading along the coast towards home, visiting the impressive Chesil Beach, and Portland Bill headland, stopping for a fish lunch at Swanage before crossing Poole Harbour and travelling inland for home.

It was a fabulous weekend all round. 

Social / Anti-Social Weekend…

We had a mixed weekend both weather-wise and social-wise. Friday we had Deb over and Howard joined us for dinner where Sue made another amazing meal that she had never made before. We happy guinea pigs stuffed ourselves silly. Later on we all went up to B&Bs for a quick drink with Neil, Helen and Paul.

Saturday we had a visit from Terry, Stacey and their baby daughter Gracie-Mae along with Dave and Barbara. We had a roast lamb dinner with freshly dug potatoes and over vegetables from the garden, finished off with a fruit crumble and a pavlova. In the evening we went into Dorking as we had heard the landlord of the Star was leaving so we went along and enjoyed ourselves celebrating his time there. The band Eclectix were fabulous, keeping everyone entertained. It was a lively evening and a long walk home.

Sunday we went over to Paul and Lorraine’s for their summer BBQ that was a good number of friends out in the garden. Luckily the weather held off for us and we didn’t need to use the gazebos apart from the karaoke singers later on in the afternoon.

Monday we took Deb back home and dropped in to see Chris and Carole for a cup of coffee and a cake before returning home in the rain, picking up some KFC and hiding away in front of the TV for the rest of the day. 

More of wot I have read…

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

I thought I ought to read one of the books as I had heard they were quite different from the movies. And indeed they are, perhaps as a product of their time, or as a result of the personality of the author, but whatever James Bond is not a very likable character. He has some serious flaws and his attitude to others is frankly quite disturbing. The book seems to have an unusual pace to it too with long passages dedicated to the gambling and to the torture scene with other aspects glossed over. Nevertheless it was interesting to see just how different it was.

‘In the novel that introduced James Bond to the world, Ian Fleming’s agent 007 is dispatched to a French casino in Royale-les-Eaux. His mission? Bankrupt a ruthless Russian agent who’s been on a bad luck streak at the baccarat table.

One of SMERSH’s most deadly operatives, the man known only as “Le Chiffre,” has been a prime target of the British Secret Service for years. If Bond can wipe out his bankroll, Le Chiffre will likely be “retired” by his paymasters in Moscow. But what if the cards won’t cooperate? After a brutal night at the gaming tables, Bond soon finds himself dodging would-be assassins, fighting off brutal torturers, and going all-in to save the life of his beautiful female counterpart, Vesper Lynd.

Taut, tense, and effortlessly stylish, Ian Fleming’s inaugural James Bond adventure has all the hallmarks that made the series a touchstone for a generation of readers.’