What with the chaotic run-up to Christmas and the holiday season itself, I've neglected my blog duties and so will try to compensate here with a brief round-up of recent events. Going back to Christmas Eve, Ruth & I have enjoyed a 12-day stretch of "out of office" activities, starting with ribeye steak from our local organic butcher, G.G. Sparkes, which was delicious even at a cost of £14. After wrapping presents round our oversized Christ
mas tree that takes up a quarter of the living room, we settled down to watch the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special and then drifted off to sleep after a few bottles of red wine.
On Christmas morning, we ate salmon and scrambled eggs, rifled through our stockings (I got a mini Ping Pong set, St. Peter's brewery beer and cheesy oatcakes) and then walked round Greenwich Park in the sunshine. I bought Ruth an iPod touch, and received some Muji kimono pyjamas and brown & orange Converse trainers in return. For lunch, we walked to my Nan's in Charlton for a turkey lunch with all the trimmings, followed by brandy-soaked Christmas Pudding - amazing effort by a woman approaching 90. After gathering round the TV for the Queen's Speech, we opened some presents and then drove back to my parent's house in Plumstead for games and booze. I retained my crown as Banana Split champion, but my Nan was the comedy winner at charades.
Boxing Day involved an early morning 2-hour drive to Norfolk in our new Fiat Punto Selecta, to spend some time with Ruth's family at Primrose Cottage. As we arrived, Ruth's brother Dan was outside cleaning his car and gave us a free car wash too. That afternoon, we went for a short walk in Homersfield and had a half pint of Adnams Tally Ho in the Black Swan (known as the Mucky Duck locally). Sadly, Ruth's Grandad had a stomach bug and so was bedbound in the living room, but the festivities continued as the family gathered (Willy Wonka style) around him and the fire to drink port and open presents. Mouthwatering ham and the cheese platter were two of the culinary highlights that evening. As for gifts, Ruth's parents got me a pasta maker, Sim bought me Lives of Others on DVD, Ben gave me some car accessories, Tim provided a Millets voucher and Dan got us some wicker baskets.
Instead of joining Ruth round the Norwich shops on the 27th, I went for a jog and took Willy the dog for a walk in the morning before tucking into a fry-up. Dan suggested a bike ride that afternoon, so we headed to the High Lodge centre in Thetford Forest to cycle on the harder Black trail, which includes a kamikaze section called the Beast. My legs were in agony halfway round, and I had to swap my bike with Tim's better BMX to keep up with him and Dan. Despite my aching body, we headed over to Chestnut Cottage that evening to have dinner with Jamie & Kath, her mum Marge and husband Terry, as well as Vic, Daniel, Eva, Elise and Sally. Starting with a whole poached salmon, we moved on to succulent roast lamb that was washed down with a methuselah of Bardolino, and fruit compote, meringues & ice cream for dessert. After dinner, we were serenaded by Vic & Elise's banjo version of "Tonight You Belong To Me", then tucked into red wine, blackberry whisky and more cheese.
Next morning, after another fry-up, Kath took us to Sam's memorial in the grounds of Chestnut Cottage, a cherry blossom tree surrounded by a circular bench, attache
d to which is a plaque that lights up with the last rays of the setting sun. We then drove back to Primrose Cottage, before heading out on an excursion to Walberswick with all of Ruth's brothers, that included a walk on the beach and a pint of Adnams in the Harbour Inn. Reminder to self - I must go back to Southwold harbour soon for a seafood platter. Back at Primrose Cottage, after some time relaxing in front of the fire, we ate dinner with Ruth's family and Nicky, including seafood lettuce cups to start. We then watched the Wallace & Gromit Christmas special and finished the evening with a game of Scotland Yard, in which PC Paul led the operations in tracking down Ruth and Sim.
On the 29th, I was up early to play golf at Dunston Hall with Jamie, and two of his family friends, Roger and Pat. It was a beautiful morning of crisp winter sunshine, and a wonderful setting to play golf in, even if we had to play on winter greens. Despite my best efforts, Roger & I lost our fourballs match 2&1. Ruth & family then met me for a drink in the hotel bar, and that afternoon we bought our car from Mike Harper and had a drink with Ruth's friend Heidi at Primrose Cottage. Our last evening there was a quiet affair with Ruth's parents and Ben, but still involved a mixed grill and more red wine & cheese.
We drove back to London on the 30th, delayed slightly by the Lakeside and Bluewater shopping traffic, and after tidying the flat had a lazy evening in front of the TV with a Marks & Spencer curry box and Kung Fu Panda on DVD. On New Year's Eve, we started the day with fried breakfast at Gambardella's, joined by my Mum, Nan & bro
ther Phil. Then we headed to Lewisham to get fancy dress accessories for the Moulin Rouge Burlesque Ball which we had tickets for that night, held at Blackheath Halls. We also went for a pint in the Dog & Bell in Deptford and had a Belgian beer & a bath at home, before dressing up and heading round to Buffy & Daf's flat for drinks. Buffy added to my mime artist look by face painting on a curly French moustache and David Bowie tear (viz Ashes to Ashes), and lending me a beret and white satin gloves. We looked like a bunch of fin de siecle bohos, and drunk like them too.
New Year's Day was a complete write-off, with both of us struggling to emerge from the bed, let alone the flat. I rearranged and improved my iTunes collection and watched Royal Tenenbaums on DVD, and called it a day. On the 2nd, we went for a run round the Park and then had a day up town with Jamie & Kath, including a visit to the new Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum, followed by moules frites and beer at the Lowlander in Covent Garden, but no ice skating as planned as all the rinks were booked up till late evening.
After another Greenwich park run on the Saturday, we picked up Buffy & Daf and drove to the Windmill Village hotel near Coventry for our annual university reunion. There were 12 of us that night for dinner, us 4 plus Emma & Matt, James & Bethan, Kaffers & Niz and A
ndy Mundy, as well as John, who was flying to Libya the next day to start a work placement. We all went for a swim & sauna, then tucked into a 3-course meal, mine involving gravadlax, Chicken Ballantine and a cheese platter. I then polished off some red wine with Andy & Niz until the early hours. Despite plans to play golf the next day, the frost put that scheme on ice, so I opted for another full english breakfast instead and then drove to a nearby Toby Carvery to meet Clare & Brian and their kids, Joseph & Niamh. Great to see them all, but I then had a 3-hour drive home with a stonking hangover to undertake. But thankfully I got us all home safely, and had an extra holiday today to relax and catch up on this blog.
mas tree that takes up a quarter of the living room, we settled down to watch the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special and then drifted off to sleep after a few bottles of red wine.On Christmas morning, we ate salmon and scrambled eggs, rifled through our stockings (I got a mini Ping Pong set, St. Peter's brewery beer and cheesy oatcakes) and then walked round Greenwich Park in the sunshine. I bought Ruth an iPod touch, and received some Muji kimono pyjamas and brown & orange Converse trainers in return. For lunch, we walked to my Nan's in Charlton for a turkey lunch with all the trimmings, followed by brandy-soaked Christmas Pudding - amazing effort by a woman approaching 90. After gathering round the TV for the Queen's Speech, we opened some presents and then drove back to my parent's house in Plumstead for games and booze. I retained my crown as Banana Split champion, but my Nan was the comedy winner at charades.
Boxing Day involved an early morning 2-hour drive to Norfolk in our new Fiat Punto Selecta, to spend some time with Ruth's family at Primrose Cottage. As we arrived, Ruth's brother Dan was outside cleaning his car and gave us a free car wash too. That afternoon, we went for a short walk in Homersfield and had a half pint of Adnams Tally Ho in the Black Swan (known as the Mucky Duck locally). Sadly, Ruth's Grandad had a stomach bug and so was bedbound in the living room, but the festivities continued as the family gathered (Willy Wonka style) around him and the fire to drink port and open presents. Mouthwatering ham and the cheese platter were two of the culinary highlights that evening. As for gifts, Ruth's parents got me a pasta maker, Sim bought me Lives of Others on DVD, Ben gave me some car accessories, Tim provided a Millets voucher and Dan got us some wicker baskets.
Instead of joining Ruth round the Norwich shops on the 27th, I went for a jog and took Willy the dog for a walk in the morning before tucking into a fry-up. Dan suggested a bike ride that afternoon, so we headed to the High Lodge centre in Thetford Forest to cycle on the harder Black trail, which includes a kamikaze section called the Beast. My legs were in agony halfway round, and I had to swap my bike with Tim's better BMX to keep up with him and Dan. Despite my aching body, we headed over to Chestnut Cottage that evening to have dinner with Jamie & Kath, her mum Marge and husband Terry, as well as Vic, Daniel, Eva, Elise and Sally. Starting with a whole poached salmon, we moved on to succulent roast lamb that was washed down with a methuselah of Bardolino, and fruit compote, meringues & ice cream for dessert. After dinner, we were serenaded by Vic & Elise's banjo version of "Tonight You Belong To Me", then tucked into red wine, blackberry whisky and more cheese.
Next morning, after another fry-up, Kath took us to Sam's memorial in the grounds of Chestnut Cottage, a cherry blossom tree surrounded by a circular bench, attache
d to which is a plaque that lights up with the last rays of the setting sun. We then drove back to Primrose Cottage, before heading out on an excursion to Walberswick with all of Ruth's brothers, that included a walk on the beach and a pint of Adnams in the Harbour Inn. Reminder to self - I must go back to Southwold harbour soon for a seafood platter. Back at Primrose Cottage, after some time relaxing in front of the fire, we ate dinner with Ruth's family and Nicky, including seafood lettuce cups to start. We then watched the Wallace & Gromit Christmas special and finished the evening with a game of Scotland Yard, in which PC Paul led the operations in tracking down Ruth and Sim.On the 29th, I was up early to play golf at Dunston Hall with Jamie, and two of his family friends, Roger and Pat. It was a beautiful morning of crisp winter sunshine, and a wonderful setting to play golf in, even if we had to play on winter greens. Despite my best efforts, Roger & I lost our fourballs match 2&1. Ruth & family then met me for a drink in the hotel bar, and that afternoon we bought our car from Mike Harper and had a drink with Ruth's friend Heidi at Primrose Cottage. Our last evening there was a quiet affair with Ruth's parents and Ben, but still involved a mixed grill and more red wine & cheese.
We drove back to London on the 30th, delayed slightly by the Lakeside and Bluewater shopping traffic, and after tidying the flat had a lazy evening in front of the TV with a Marks & Spencer curry box and Kung Fu Panda on DVD. On New Year's Eve, we started the day with fried breakfast at Gambardella's, joined by my Mum, Nan & bro
ther Phil. Then we headed to Lewisham to get fancy dress accessories for the Moulin Rouge Burlesque Ball which we had tickets for that night, held at Blackheath Halls. We also went for a pint in the Dog & Bell in Deptford and had a Belgian beer & a bath at home, before dressing up and heading round to Buffy & Daf's flat for drinks. Buffy added to my mime artist look by face painting on a curly French moustache and David Bowie tear (viz Ashes to Ashes), and lending me a beret and white satin gloves. We looked like a bunch of fin de siecle bohos, and drunk like them too.New Year's Day was a complete write-off, with both of us struggling to emerge from the bed, let alone the flat. I rearranged and improved my iTunes collection and watched Royal Tenenbaums on DVD, and called it a day. On the 2nd, we went for a run round the Park and then had a day up town with Jamie & Kath, including a visit to the new Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum, followed by moules frites and beer at the Lowlander in Covent Garden, but no ice skating as planned as all the rinks were booked up till late evening.
After another Greenwich park run on the Saturday, we picked up Buffy & Daf and drove to the Windmill Village hotel near Coventry for our annual university reunion. There were 12 of us that night for dinner, us 4 plus Emma & Matt, James & Bethan, Kaffers & Niz and A
ndy Mundy, as well as John, who was flying to Libya the next day to start a work placement. We all went for a swim & sauna, then tucked into a 3-course meal, mine involving gravadlax, Chicken Ballantine and a cheese platter. I then polished off some red wine with Andy & Niz until the early hours. Despite plans to play golf the next day, the frost put that scheme on ice, so I opted for another full english breakfast instead and then drove to a nearby Toby Carvery to meet Clare & Brian and their kids, Joseph & Niamh. Great to see them all, but I then had a 3-hour drive home with a stonking hangover to undertake. But thankfully I got us all home safely, and had an extra holiday today to relax and catch up on this blog.
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