I have been incredibly poor in updating my blog, sorry, but here is a quick update…
Oct 2023
We managed to get mum out her home and over to Jamie’s for a quick birthday celebration. She is still struggling with several mystery illnesses along with a lingering case of shingles.
We got together with Terry and Katherine and Brian and Julie for a lovely evening at Pendley Bridge.
Nov 2023
I struggled to teach Chris and Carole the boardgame Wingspan, but eventually we got there and enjoyed and evening of food and games.
Sue and I visited RHS Wisley to revel in the autumnal displays of flowers and foliage.
Things are starting to ramp up for the forthcoming festive season with a quaint West-Festivity Christmas market in the village.
Sue and I however are trying to hang on to autumn with some lovely walks in the local area.
Later in the month we were treated to an evening out at Ronnie Scott’s with Deb, Jamie, and some of his friends, where we enjoyed the vocal talents of Beady Belle.
We celebrated Ollie’s 18th birthday with the Whittenbury clan, Deb, and Paul & Lorraine. With a curry out in Brick Lane.
It is feeling colder now, but still we managed to get out for a few walks with friends.
Dec 2023
Ok, now we can prepare for Christmas with the house being decorated.
Sue’s boss, Jonas, was over from Sweden and so we went out into London, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the Christmas decorated streets. We visited the lovely Mercato Mayfair (crafts, foods and drinks in an old church), we also had drinks in hidden bars such as Opium in China Town and Stone Nest, and had a tasty meal in the Fatt Pundit.
We had a great gig at the Roundhouse celebrating the life of Simon Emmerson and were entertained by Imagined Village, Afro Celt Sound System and Working Week.
We topped up our seasonal spirit with our annual visit to the Christmas singalong organised by Uncle Terry.
Sue and I took
off into the woods one day and explored another of our local areas, this time
heathland, ancient Saxon churches, and public houses in Aldbury.
We had a dinner at ours for Deb’s birthday and celebrated it along with Chris and Carole.
We joined in with the village carols on the green and wandered around the streets admiring the festive lights on our neighbour’s houses.
Another festive tradition is meeting friends at Borough Market for a drink and some cheese shopping, and we expended this to also include Spitalfields Market.
Christmas was a round of seasonal indulgence traveling between family and friends, eating and drink way too much, but enjoying each other’s company.
We ended the years with a walk and an evening of boardgames with some neighbours.
Jan 2024
We started the year with a walk around Headley Heath with friends.
And explored some new paths (to us) a few days later, as we explored Reigate Heath. And then a day later with a trip down to the coast at the lovely village of Bosham.
The Dorking Community Orchard was again the location of the annual Wassail festivities that we enjoyed with the neighbours.
Terry and Katherine came over for a visit and together we walked up Leith Hill.
At the end of this month, we were out in town with Deb and Jamie at the underwhelming Leo Green Experience (it certainly was, but not what we were expecting. We did however have a drink in the quirky Scarfe bar beforehand.
Paul and Lorraine’s business, Hedges & Hurdles has a new venue and a as friends we joined the working bee to get the place tidied up.
Feb 2024
We went all sporty at the beginning of the month with our first visit to the local football ground to watch the Dorking Wanderers play the Fylde.
We walked with a couple of neighbours out to the wonderfully named Friday Street, and back in a 6-mile loop.
For my birthday treat, Sue and I flew out to the Austrian Lake District hoping for a wintery wonderland, however we were misinformed and the was not much sign of the white stuff. We did however enjoy some of the well organised local walks. We stayed for a few days in Fusch am See in a family run hotel on the lake.
We walked the approximately 7 miles around the lake the next day, before having a sauna and a swim.
The next day we hiked over the Mozartblick (very steep decent) to the town of St Gilgen at next lake along, had a beer (or two) watching a carnival, before taking the cable car up to the top of the Zwolferhorn where we finally found some snow.
We then transferred to Salzburg and took in some culture with a concert in the Marble Hall at the Palace.
The next day we walk all around the old town taking all the many and varied cultural highlights. A very interesting city.
This month we went to a relatively new venue called the Sound Lounge in Sutton that promotes unsigned or new music, and here we saw the highly entertaining Matt Owens and his band.
Mar 2024
Chris and Lynne came over to stay and we did a bit of a pub crawl around Dorking, starting at the Drop Kick brewery.
Sue created a wonderful Mexican inspired meal, washed down with a few tequila-based cocktails that we enjoyed with a few friends.
We have some relatively new neighbours and we have introduced them to the joy of boardgames.
As spring starts to make itself felt we started clearing the garden and had our first fir in the fire pit.
Wild garlic is now in season and so we went foraging. Sue turned the pungent greens into pesto, salsa Verde and garlic butter.
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