Raise a Glass…

For the first time in a long while we went out, this time to the Hope in Carshalton where we had a few drinks with friends, because we could.

Booster jab…

We have both now had our booster jab, this time the Pfizer to complement our previous Astra-Zeneca. We have had sore arms around the injection site, but otherwise no side-effects.

Winter is Coming…

It is getting colder again as we move into the metrological winter and there was a slight sprinkling of snow to let us know.

Christmas Fair…

New for Dorking this year was that they closed some of the main roads to have a Christmas fair, with stall holders, food sellers, music and roving entertainers. It was all a very jolly affair, and we ended up buying a lovely painting from a local artist John Arthur which is now hanging up in the dining room.

Ollie’s Birthday…

We joined in celebrating Ollie’s 16^th birthday where we had smoked ribs (from Dave’s new smoker), and later some of Sue’s chocolate cake.

Country Walk…

It was nice to walk in the countryside after a long while, due to the redecorations around the house and poor weather. We noticed were had become more unfit, but the weather was a brisk and bright winters day, and we did stop for a pint in town before returning.

Odd Weekend…

We had an unusual weekend in Kent recently. We had planned to revisit the old Roman site of Richborough where there was a planned archaeological dig of the stadium. Unfortunately, unknown to us the team did not work on a weekend, and we could not see what was going on. Instead, we visited the old Cinque Port Walmer Castle, where the Iron Duke of Wellington had died. We stayed at the Blazing Donkey pub (run by cousins of friends), and where we attended their inaugural Drag Ball which included singing by Angie Brown. It was all very ‘fabulous’ but quite out of the ordinary for us.

Changing Rooms…

We have been redecorating the dining and living rooms after new double-glazing windows and a new set of French doors were installed at the rear of the house. It was a case of one job leading onto another. The was quite some construction required to take out the old windows and replace them and where the dining room window was taken out brickwork to make space for the new double doors. This made a mess and required some finishing, which led us to look at redecorating the dining room, which meant we should have the ceiling replastered, and then that would make the front living room look dowdy, so that would need a repaint too. Luckily, we were able to get a man in to do a lot of the skilled work and Sue and I spent many an evening and weekend sanding and treating floors, moving furniture, cleaning, and finishing off. But now we have done – for now… …the kitchen could do with some work… …and so on

Garden of Delights…

We went to visit the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden with Terry and Katherine not too long ago and were sad to hear of her death in August. There is a trail through the gardens where sculptures are to be found, mostly for sale, and often very expensive. It is a magical place to visit.

Tom goes to Uni…

Tom’s family had a small gathering to celebrate before Tom goes off to Cardiff university. We sat around the fire pit in the back garden and ate, drank, and talked for many hours.