Weekend Round Up

Saturday started very early and I was pottering around the house shortly after six o'clock. The hot humid weather is still with us and once I am awake I tend not to be able to fall back to sleep hence I have been seeing some very early mornings recently. I pottered for a while and was joined at a surprisingly early* eight o'clock by 30%. After sharing a few moments and thoughts whilst we both drank coffee, I headed out for a circuit of the Three Miler with T&M.

I was back at home by nine and had time for another cup of coffee before we headed over to the Auction House. At last night's viewing we had seen a number of interesting lots including a 17th Century, reproduction oak sideboard. It probably dates from the 1950's but was a perfect size and colour for the Dining Room and consequently warranted being at the auction in person rather than relying on a commission bid and loosing the lot.

Basically the sideboard was coming home with us and it did along with a second oak sideboard, an amazing set of bellows, a iron and brass balance on a wooden stand and a couple of porcelain figurines.

A Twisted Fire Starter?

Sideboard number one just fitted inside 30%'s Seat and we took it and a few of the smaller items as we made our way home for lunch. After we had eaten, TP and I unloaded the sideboard and left 30% applying a coat of wax polish as we returned to Littleton to pick up the rest of the loot.

By the time we got home again 30% had just about finished cleaning up the piece and  we shifted it in to the dining room where it looks perfect.

I now had some free time so I headed out to the garage where I finally finished the restoration of the Victorian garden bench. It is fair to say that there was some swearing and use of a Spanish Windlass to get the final bolts in place but it looks lovely and now has pride of place on the terrace beneath the dining room window.

After a full day the evening was spent on the sofa watching a movie** before retiring to bed.

After Saturday's early start, Sunday was a refreshing change. I managed to go back to sleep after waking at five and was dragged from, my slumber at a pleasant eight o'clock by 30%, who came bearing coffee and news that the chickens had been let out and the dogs emptied.

We had a leisurely start to the day and headed over to the Rugby Club as ten o'clock approach. TP had a training session and we had decided to take T&M for a walk over the woods and fields of a local estate as an alternative to their usual loop around the Three Miler. After a fine walk in the sun we headed back to the club, collected TP and returned home for lunch.

I may as well end this post here and now as, after eating, I wandered in to the lounge and promptly fell asleep on the sofa for two hours. I awoke with that groggy feeling of having slept for far too long and set about filling in the raft of forms that arrived in the Kat's package ...

... Having completed that it was time to get ready for a short drive out for Sunday Dinner. The justification for this was partly in celebration of my recent news and partly because 30% couldn't be arsed to cook.  We had a table reserved at The Why Not but up on arrival is was apparent that the table was right in the centre of a Christening Party and the chance of a free slice of cake did not make amends for the chaos that would be all around us. We politely declined the table and headed down the road and stopped, in desperation, at The Neville Arms ...

... That was a big mistake. We hadn't eaten there for eight years or more and I now remember why. The food was very poor; lacking taste and having the appearance of being hastily assembled. 30% expected a starter of mushrooms served on a toasted wholemeal crouton but what she actually received was mushrooms that normally garnish the steak dishes, drowned in a steak sauce and sitting on a slice of soggy white bread.

Rest assured that the proper celebration dinner is yet to be arranged.

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* for her
** The Shipping News