Hot Summer…

 Whilst we were away in NZ, the UK went through a heatwave, and we noticed as we arrived much of the landscape was a dry looking brown. We had to adopt the Spanish ways of closing windows and curtains during the day to keep the heat out, and to ensure we avoided the midday heat. We went for early walk under the shade of trees and ate out in the garden as the sun went down.

Another Hemisphere, another Season…

 As the restrictions to travel to NZ were relaxed, we took the opportunity to fly there for a few weeks. Sue had just given up work and my company granted me extended leave, so as it was my mum’s 80^th birthday and we had not seen family and friends for many years we decided to pay the exorbitant cost to flay out. It was along and uncomfortable flight, but we were glad to see family again.

We visited the family plot in Howick and had a look at the town where we grew up. On the Sunday we had a family lunch at a lovely place in Pukekohe called the Monarch.

Sue spent a lot of time in the kitchen putting together a buffet spread for mum’s 80^th and many of her friends came over to celebrate. It was a joyful day.

As mum was recovering from an Achilles injury, she had not been able to keep on top of the garden, and so we lent a hand and spent a good few days getting it back into shape.

When the sun shone, we took time out to visit the Auckland Botanical Garden to see the early spring flowers.

We all took a trip out to Devonport to catch up with some of mum’s friends that she had not seen for some time due to the epidemic restrictions. It was a lovely day out.

On another occasion we travelled around to the east and visited a fabulous farmers market at Clevedon and had fish and chips at Kaiaua.

I took a few small card games along with me and we played some with mum and her friends in the cul-de-sac.

The weather was not always kind to us, and it was particularly dramatic when we went to visit our friends who built a castle on a remote hilltop (Brent and Hannah). We luckily got away before the trees came down and the roads flooded.

It was nicer weather when we went out to Waiuku for the morning to stroll around the waterfront.

Sue and I took off into Auckland city for a couple of days. On the first evening we went over to Gary and Mary’s where we had a lovely dinner with them, their kids Rachel and Ben, and friends Fi and Avette. During the days we walked many miles around the town and saw places from the past like Unity Books, the Art Gallery, the Viaduct, Marbecks Records and King of Cards game shop. We had a lovely meal at the Amano restaurant (though the portions were so big we were stuffed after the starters). The main reason for the trip was to see/listen to some music at the town hall – Reb Fountain supported by Jazmine Mary. Jazmine was a bit odd and although Reb was good the microphone set up was so poor that we could not catch all the lyrics. Outside there was a weird little Winter Wonderland

Gary and I went off to look at cars at the Coffee & Cars event at Mt Smart Stadium. The weather had put a few people off, but there were still quite a few vehicles to drool over. Afterwards we met up with the girls for lunch at a garden centre (they had been around the Auckland Botanical Gardens). Later Sue and I took mum into town visiting some sites before settling in for the evening at a venue at Mission Bay to see a Trad Jazz band.

It was a nice bright day when we all went down to the Hamilton gardens, and apart from Gary taking a tumble, we had a lovely day out in the various themed garden rooms.

During our time here we caught up with other friends of ours and mums and spent some quality time with family.

Our flight home was scheduled for around midnight, so we took mum out for a last lunch before making our sad farewells and heading off to the airport. It was another very long journey before we eventually arrived home.

Spain at last…

 After being postponed twice due to Covid we finally made it to Spain for our holiday with the Whittenburys (Deb. Dave, Tom, Ollie, Sam & Steve), the Matthews (Paul & Lorraine) Deb and ourselves.

Our first stop was at Seville, where it was warm and sultry, and we spent an enjoyable evening at an outside bar. The next morning, Sue, Deb and I explored the town including the wonderful Real Alcazar. In the afternoon we picked up the cars and travelled to our fabulous villa in the hills near Villamartin. A large sprawling building with well looked after gardens and a large swimming pool. Peaceful and isolated at the end of a long, unsealed road.

Turned out I caught Covid in the last few days, but it is a mild dose and does not seem to concern the others.

After a day chilling by the pool, we took an excursion up to Ronda up in the hills.

On another day trip we travelled around some of the famous Pueblo Blanca, first Zahara del Sierra, then Grazalema.

The group split up and Sue, Deb and I took off to visit Prado del Rey (not as nice as the other white villages).

Benamahoma was another excursion with welcome relief from the sun under the trees near the river.

Arcos de la Frontera is a much bigger place, and the old town is fascinating, as too are the large number of birds of prey circling the towers.

We decamped from the villa after more than a week and returned to Seville where we had a hotel with a rooftop bar (with misters) and a view of the cathedral. It also has very hot decking and a deeper than expected pool (ask Dave about that). We went out for a lovely evening meal to celebrate Paul’s 60^th birthday at El Pasaje Tapas.

While the Whitenburys returned home, the rest of us travelled down to Cadiz, where we wandered around the old town and along by the sea as the temperature increased.

Sue and I returned home next as we were scheduled to catch our next flight in a few days.

Summertime…

 June

• -        Held a Jubilee gathering with cakes and old school party food.
• -        Back at the UK Game Expo after a couple of years, with Martin and Rhys.
• -        Bought a print from local artist called Luke Adam Hawker that was inspired by the pandemic restrictions (we also bought the book where it features in).
• -        Visited the Birtley Woodland Art Space where Paul and Lorraine have a stand.
• -        Jamie treated Sue, Deb, and I to a day out at the Dulwich Pub in the Park fair.

Springtime…

I have been a bit remis about keeping my blog up to date, so I hope to provide an update on what has happened.

February

• -        We caught up with Marc and went to the seaside at Ferring for fish & chips on a bright winter’s day.
• -        A trip to RHS Wisley is a must to catch some lovely spring flowers, and while we were there, we saw a dinosaur in the boarders (like those on sale outside a quirky shop in Gomshall.

March

• -        We found a new walk at Hurtwood and Winterfold. Beautiful countryside and a chance to see some wildlife. There is a lovely installation there that acts as a shelter and has messages on the wooden shingles.
• -        Back to RHS Wisley to see more spring blossoms
• -        Had a fire pit gathering with Chris and Carole.

April

• -        Went few a few pints at the Hope in Carshalton with Chris & Carole.
• -        Foraged wild garlic in the woods.
• -        Had a BBQ with the Whittenburys around our fire pit.
• -        Lucy’s 25^th birthday day celebrations at Chris & Carole’s
• -        A walk in the woods to see the bluebells, followed with an evening around the fire pit with Chris, Carole, Deb, and Howard.
• -        An evening out at Voodoo Ray’s in Peckham to see Cosmic Fusion blue and to have pizza with Jamie and his friends.

May

• -        As the weather improved, we spent more time outdoors in the countryside and around the fire pit with Deb and Haward.
• -        Celebrating Lynne’s 60^th birthday in Seaford.
• -        Played boardgames with Martin, and even won a couple.
• -        Celebrated Jamie’s birthday at his place with friends and family.
• -        Catching up with work friends past and present at Rob and Sally’s place.

Birthday Retreat…

This year Sue and I rented a lovely, converted barn in the wonderfully named Cackle Street for my birthday weekend. It is on the edge of Ashdown Forest and we spent a good deal of time walking through it and across the heathland. We spent a couple of cosy evenings where Sue prepared some delicious food and we snuggled up to watch a couple of movies. On our way back home, we stopped and walked around the nearby Sheffield Park. The evening we played board games and Sue cooked another delightful meal. I felt very spoiled.

Welsh Wales…

A few of us visited Cardiff for a weekend where our eldest godson Tom is at university. We explored the lovely town and harbour and especially liked the Victorian arcades and dramatic castle. We did also enjoy a few bars, such as the The Botanist and The Alchemist, and we enjoyed eating at Mowgli so much that we went there twice, and got the cookbook.

Wassail…

We made an impromptu decision to attend the Dorking Community Orchard Wassail and took Deb, Howard and bemused Jodie and Lou along with us. We first watched some Boarder style Morris in Dorking before processing up to the orchard for the ceremony around a large bonfire.

Xmas Travelling Circus…

This Christmas we were able to move about more freely as there were less strict restrictions than the previous year. This meant we went on our traditional Travelling Circus moving between friends and family gift giving and partaking of celebratory indulgences.

We spent a lovely day wondering around RHS Wisley and then went back to Howard’s for a lovely dinner.

I ventured out to the cinema and caught the new Marvel Eternals film and then we played board games with Chris and Carole.

Christmas lights were out on the houses around Westcott and one evening we took a stroll to see them.

Deb’s Caribbean themed birthday dinner went very well, and we were joined by Howard and the Browns.

A group of us had a day out in London on our anniversary visiting Borough Market, Market Porter, and Bar Y Taas.

On Christmas Eve we were entertained at the Brown’s, and on Christmas Day we were in Sutton at Barbara’s and at Deb’s with the family. On Boxing Day, we went to Whittenbury’s for a delightful meal.

In between Christmas and New Year, we watched the epic Beatles Get Back Documentary, went walking on Reigate Hill with Whittenbury’s and Matthews, and played more board games later on with the Browns. As the weather was pleasant, we had a walk to Wotton Hatch during that time.

As is often the case we spent New Year’s Eve in the comfort of our own home.

New Year’s Day a gang of us all got together and had a long walk at Leith Hill.

To complete the festive season, we attended the final night of the Glow illuminations at RHS Wisley with Deb and Howard.

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.

Flower Show…

We joined a couple of our neighbours for a visit to see the RHS Wisley Flower Show. It was a lovely day and although there were many thousands of other people also visiting, the stands were thoughtfully arranged to minimise crowding as much as possible. We walked for miles that day and thoroughly enjoyed it all.