Catching Up…

 September

We heard of the Queen’s passing as we waiting to see Opera in the Tipi at the Queen’s Head in Dorking. The performers held a minute’s silence and dedicated the show to her.

We visited the wonderful RHS Wisley flower show in September and bought a few new plants that we had installed for one of the last garden parties of the year.

Sue and I went into London for the weekend to see some of the London Open House buildings followed by watching the Cuban All Stars at Boisdale. We saw the miles of queue lining the Thames waiting to pay their respects to the Queen. Some of the open buildings we visited were St Brides Church (and the crypt), Temple Bar (relocated to opposite St Pauls cathedral), and St Mary-le-Bow (playing a long peal of bells for the Queen).

The following day we met up with Jamie and walked ‘the Line’, an outdoor art trail that runs up the Lee valley from the O2 and the Thames to Stratford and the site of the Olympic stadium. We crossed the crossed the river on the exciting gondola.

One busy weekend we painted the radiators a copper colour, laid some cobblestones around the patio, and enjoyed a curry with friends at the Whittenbury’s.

October

Terry and Katharine visited in early October, and we went with them to visit the quaint Apple Fair at Leigh and then onto the Sussex Prairie Gardens. Next day visited our local National Trust property of Polsden Lacey.

Loving the changing seasons, we went to view some autumnal scenes at Winkworth Arboretum and were not disappointed.

On one of our visits to see Jamie, he took us to see the Peckham Conker championships, which to our surprise was very popular and well attended (might have something to do with being next to a pub).

Martin and I visited Marc up at his factory in Oxford and we played several games in the boardroom.

Not far from us in Guildford we saw Nerina Pallot at the intimate Boileroom venue. It was a good evening, and we were very impressed with local band TIGY who supported Nerina.

We went to church… …Hackney church, where we saw Australian act, Boy & Bear supported by Stu Larsen. A lovely looking venue it is too.

Sue and I found a new walk to explore, this time at Bookham Common. Later we went back to  Polsden Lacey where there was a fairy tale walk with sculptures around the grounds.

November

Early November we went to see Meute, a German techno marching band at Brixton Academy. They are an interesting and hard to explain sensation that really got the place jumping. Obviously, they have some very dedicated followers.

Tales from the Loop is a fabulous, fantastical, alternative reality that originally was inspired by the art of Simon Stalenhag, which has since gone on to become a role-playing game and a TV series. Now the boardgames has come out. It is a complex mechanic that is designed to have a lot of replay ability built in, however it took me several attempts to grasp the rules and a long time on the table to complete.

It has been quite warm and wet recently but have still managed to get out for a few walks in the countryside (the routes may have included a refreshment stop at a local hostelry).

Sue and I took a day off work and went to visit Petworth and the lovely surroundings. It was a lovely day out away from the office.

An intimate family dinner was had to celebrate Terry’s 75th birthday at a pub near where they live. We found out then that he had his hip replacement booked to happen soon.

We travelled to north London with Deb for an early festive gig at the Union Chapel by Ingrid Michaelson supported by Sugar & the Hi-lows. It was a fun performance in a great venue.

December

The last of our gigs for this year was a return visit to Hackney Church, this time to witness the poetic ramblings of Bonney Prince Billy.

We had a bit of a cold snap early in December (it warmed up unseasonable after that).  We visited Norbury Park where Paul & Lorraine were running a hedge laying course, luckily, we were back home as a light dusting of snow came down.

The Christmas lights are up around Westcott and a tree has been decorated on the green where carols were performed by the local choir. That and on the mulled wine succeeded in getting us into the festive spirit.

We really feel like Christmas is upon us when we travel up to Tring to join in with the long running annual carol singing that my uncle arranges. Terry seems to be recovering extraordinarily well to the hip replacement surgery.

This year was Chris and Carole’s 30 wedding anniversary, and they had a gathering around theirs to celebrate.

Sue’s mum was feeling a bit better, and we were able to take her down to visit Chris and Lynne in Seaford along with Deb. It was her first outing for a while, and I think she had a good time.

Blonde and Dark Deb both have birthdays at Christmas, so we had a buffet spread to celebrate them around ours with friends and family.

Before Christmas we regularly meet up with friends at Borough Market to buy goodies (mostly cheese) and have a few drinks.

We had a lovely evening meal out at Monica Galetti’s restaurant ‘Mere’, catching up with Fiona, Maddy before they went on a boating holiday to see the Northern Lights, and to catch up with Bexi and her boyfriend Shaf. We had a fabulous testing menu with paired wines.

Christmas dinner was held at Sue’s mum’s house, with the girls having cooked the turkey, Dave cooking the veg and Stacey bringing lamb along. A big family do!

Boxing Day was spent at Deb and Dave’s where we were treated to a rib of beef and great company, spending time with them, Reg, Tom & Ollie, Jamie, Deb and Paul & Lorraine.

Marc, Heather and Elise stopped for a few days with us across New Year before they headed back to Sweden to take possession of their new house.

January

For several years now we have had a New Year’s Day with friends, and this year we walked up Leith Hill with the Deb & Dave and Paul & Lorraine and the dogs. We had a refreshment at the pub at Coldharbour afterwards to recover.

On the last day of our holidays before we go back to work, we played a few boardgames - Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne, and I managed to win them both.

We are trying to get out more regularly for walks in the countryside either one our own or with friends, and have managed a few locally around Westcott, at Norbury Park and Headley Heath. It is our attempt to try and improve our fitness.

An evening of dance and drink to bless the apple trees for wassail at the Dorking Community Orchard. The dance troupes in attendance were the Box Hill Bedlam Morris, Mythago Morris, and Madder Mill Molly.

Flying visit from Marc before he heads of for business to Peru, dinner and talk and a game of Pan Am, which I barely won by one point.