Wassail…

Recently we joined in the local Wassail celebrations.  

According to Wikipedia, the word wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon greeting Wæs þu hæl, meaning "be thou hale"—i.e., “be in good health”. The correct response to the greeting is Drinc hæl meaning "drink and be healthy".

The purpose of orchard-visiting wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn

The celebrations started with some song and dance at the Star in Dorking, with a Mummers play, Morris dancing by local side the Box Hill Bedlam, Isle of Wight Moonshine Border Morris and surrealist folk double act Huginn & Muninn’s humorous interpretations.

A procession took us to the Dorking West Station where a few more dances took place as others gathered prior to the torch-lit walk up to the Dorking Community Orchard, where there were bonfires to warm the outside, and marshmallows on sticks for the youngsters and mulled cider for the grownups to warm the insides.

Druidic incantations were performed, and the trees were blessed with offerings of toast and cider and evil spirits were noisily chased away with much singing and banging of drums, pots, cans etc.

Post Festive Gatherings…

The last Friday of our holiday break we went into London to catch up with Marc, Heather and Elise while they were over, meeting them at a delightful hole in the wall pub near Borough Market called the Mug House. We continued to Lobos Tapas for a lovely lunch. That evening Sue and I stopped off at Sutton and met up with a few friends to listen to the lively Ska group called Ten Tonne who were performing at the Nightingale pub.

On the weekend we drove up to Tring and had a lovely meal at Terry’s with Katherine and Rod and Jenny and caught up with all the news. The next morning, Terry, Katie, Sue and I had a walk down the canal and over the fields (passing Alpacas) on to the Valiant Trooper in Aldbury where we had lunch before walking back again to Tring Station.

Once back home it was time to get ready for the return to the daily grind.

Our (NZ) Silver Celebrations…

For our (NZ) 25^th Wedding Anniversary we went to Venice for a few days, arriving in the evening of the 28^th Dec at our accommodation, Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal. We strolled around the immediate area and had dinner out (pizza and Aperol Spritz) at Trattoria Ai do Fradei and a rather expensive drink back at the hotel.

The next day we bought a travel pass for the vaporetto (water bus) and cruised around getting a feel for the city stopping at the Rialto bridge, Academia bridge, St Marks square, Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, walking through the many mediaeval streets and over bridges straddling picturesque canals, and finding many more squares and churches as we went. We had a lovely lunch out on a patio beside the water at OKE and that evening we went back to the area we ate in the night before and had a few drinks and nibbles in the trendy little TiME Social Bar before having a nightcap at a little café near our hotel that was to become a regular for us.

On the following morning we went out to explore the extravagant Doge’s Palace and spent a good few hours there in amazement.

Afterwards that we took the vaporetto out towards the islands, passing the Arsenal and the spectacular Building Bridges sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn of hands clasped over a waterway, and the hospital (conveniently located opposite the cemetery island). We stopped first at the island of Murano famous for its glass making both ornamental and functional (it is thought the Venetians popularised the use of glass to correct poor eyesight). We had a simple lunch at Bar Fornace before catching another boat out to Burano, famous for its lace making and colourful buildings, and there had a snack at Sue-Zo before watching the sun come down over Venice.

Back at Venice we went for a lovely meal at Luna Sentada, a place recommended by the hostess at TiME. I tried cuttlefish with black ink pasta for the first time (it was good but I’m not sure I would have it again).

On New Years Eve we started out exploring the Ghetto area and several noisy, smelly and interesting food markets. We took the boat over to explore the Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore church before continuing for a late lunch at Terrazza Dei Nobili (calves’ liver in polenta, calzone). We watched the sun set for the last time this year and had a rest back at the hotel before venturing back out to the promontory opposite St Mark’s to watch the spectacular fireworks display.

For our last day in the city we took a gentle stroll around this enchanting city, stopping at the touristy and expensive Trattoria da GiorgioAi Greci for lunch.

The water taxi back to the airport was rather bumpy and uncomfortable and later, as the plane was about to land at Gatwick, the pilot had to suddenly abort due to the fog obscuring the runway and go around again, getting the computer to eventually land it. We were rather glad to get back home, exhausted from a fabulous holiday.

Christmas with the Ashtons…

We hosted Christmas this year starting with the Christmas Eve gathering of friends for our now traditional Jamaican inspired buffet.

We had 10 people around for Christmas Day which pretty much filled our small house. The fare was traditional with turkey and gammon and all the trimmings and went down a treat.

And on Boxing Day we had another, smaller, gathering of family around for more of the gammon, this time with homemade pickles.

Our (UK) Silver Celebrations…

For our (UK) 25^th Wedding Anniversary (we had our wedding in the UK on the 23^rd Dec, and a church blessing  in NZ on the 31^st Dec) Sue took me to watch the latest Star Wars film (she’s a keeper). I loved the film (Sue had a nap). Later we went and had a lovely Thai meal at the Giggling Squid in Reigate. Before the movie we went for a champagne brunch and a walk around the park in Reigate (coincidently which happened to pass by the HopStop beer bar).