Seasonal Lunch Treat…

It has started to become a tradition to sample the seasonal menu at our friend Paul’s restaurant, Kingham’s in Shere. We went with Deb and Howard and his friend Kevin. As to be expected it was a lovely meal, and we had some good banter with Paul joining in too when he could get away from the stove.

Weekend Adventure…

Firstly, we went with Jamie and Gia to a wet and windy Dungeness with a brief stop at the Red Lion at Snargate (built around 1540 and not decorated since 1890 this unique pub has an antique marble bar top, original gas fittings and outside loos, and feels like stepping back in time. There is an old piano and bar games such as ‘Toad-in-the-hole’ and ‘nine-men’s-morris’ on show). And then to have lunch at The Pilot Inn (built partly with timbers from a ship lured onto the beach by wreckers).

While the other two travelled back to London (slowly due to rail problems), Sue and I booked into the Chilston Park Hotel (a slightly tired old manor house of faded grandeur) and enjoyed cocktails and a light dinner in the bar, before retiring to our feature suite Victoria (rooms have names or pictures instead of numbers) for the evening.

The next day we travelled to the coast and stopped at Whitstable where we had a seafood lunch at The Crab and Winkle and later ice-cream on the pier when we got to Herne Bay. A very pleasant and indulgent weekend was had.

Birthdays…

We had a couple of celebrations for people’s birthdays; one for Auntie V; and a combined party for Chris and Lucy (who will be 21 this year). It was great to catch up with friends and family.

Salute 2018…

Salute is a one day convention focused mainly on table-top miniatures from clubs and companies brought together by the organisers, The South London Warlords club.

I went with Marc (Marc stopped over with us for a couple of nights) and Richard, ending with a couple of pints (in pewter tankards, naturally) at the Mug House hole-in-the-wall style of pub at London Bridge.

Game Day…

Played several co-op games and a couple not:

• 5-Minute Dungeon
• Azul
• Pandemic
• Thunderbirds
• Dice Throne
• Forbidden Desert

More of wot I have read…

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

This is a very accomplished debut novel with a good balance of humour, sadness, darkness and light. There are not too many surprises in the story, but the author does a good job making you believe you found out what was happening on your own before it is revealed to you. Nominated for awards and already optioned for a film.

‘Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life.

She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy.

Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled existence. Except, sometimes, everything…’

The Power by Naomi Alderman

An interesting exploration into gender and power and how a change in the balance could change everything (or nothing).

‘All over the world women are discovering they have the power.

With a flick of the fingers they can inflict terrible pain – even death.

Suddenly every man on this planet finds they have lost control.

The day of the girls has arrived – but where will it end?’

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

A quick read of this fine interpretation of a classic tale of revenge and forgiveness.

‘Treacherously toppled from his post as director of the Makeshiweg Festival on the eve of his production of The Tempest, Felix retreats to a backwoods hovel to lick his wounds and mourn his lost daughter. And to also plot his revenge.

After twelve years, his chance appears in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison, Here, Felix and his inmate actors will stage his Tempest at last, and snare the traitors who destroyed him. But will it remake Felix as his enemies fall?’

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

A fabulous read. Slow and sophisticated it gently explores the changes in Russia from the Bolshevik uprising to the Cold War, as viewed through the cultured eyes of a non-person trapped in a former gilded cage.

‘On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol.

But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely.

While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.’