We set off pretty early on Thursday morning to allow plenty of time to get to the ferry. But of course, best laid plans and all that… There had been an accident on the M1 (a lorry tried to cross the central reservation) and 2 lanes were closed. John was convinced we’d miss the ferry so we were not allowed to stop en route, Maria and I just had to cross our legs and hang on. As it was we made the ferry with a good 15mins to spare and had an easy crossing.
By about 7.00pm (local time) we were at the Ibis in Aalst. A cheap but clean hotel, fine for just somewhere to sleep. John made us go to bed early because we had a long way to go on Friday and he wanted an early start.
When he said early he meant the middle of the night! He and Maria were up at 5.30! That’s only 4.30 back home!!! What I couldn’t understand is why I had to be awake, they could have just transfered me to the car, it’s not as if they let me take a turn at driving.
Blimey, it’s a long way! By 9.00am we had covered 3 countries, Belgium, Holland and we were in Germany. Germany goes on and on and on…. Good job we had a lot of CDs with us, everything from Hungarian Folk Music to Queen and the Wurzels.
We made reasonable time, with Maria and John swopping every couple of hours, until we arrived to within a couple of kilometers of Hegyeshalom, the Hungarian border,when everything stopped. We waited for about ten minutes, starting to panic about whether we’d get there before the restaurant closed (10pm). John had just decided to phone the hotel when we started moving again. There had been an accident but it was quickly cleared away.
Maria was home! The motorway was great but once we got onto the small roads it got VERY dark, John didn’t enjoy the driving at all. I think he was pretty tired too. We got there at just before 9.00pm which was pretty good.
We are staying at the Villa Classica in Papa and our room is lovely.
It is on the second floor, so Maria whinges a bit, but I think it will do her good and we are only here for 3 night. Breakfast was great, all I remember HUngarian breakfasts being.
Blimey it’s a long way
September 12th, 2009For heavens sake…
September 9th, 2009We’ve had an interesting summer.
First there was the Patchings Art, Craft and Design Festival. Busy as usual, until the Sunday, when the heavens opened. I don’t remember rain like that in the whole of my life, the only way to get to the studios was to wade ankle deep, that’s Maria’s ankle, I’d have gone under completely. So the Sunday was a bit of a ‘washout’.
We then went to Somerset. Maria was booked on a bear making course. Yes I know, she can already make bears but this was with her hero Gregory Gyllenship. We stayed in a rather nice hotel/pub, The George in Castle Carey, with great food.
The breakfast were particularly good.
While Maria went off to make a bear, John and I had a wander around and looked for some cider. I don’t like to watch bears being made, it makes me feel quesy. Claire also came to join us for the day.
I think she only came for the free meal.
The bear Maria made turned out great, and Maria says she learned a lot.
We have also been to the theatre recently. Maria and John were off to see Fascinating Aida and they tried to claim I was too young, but I soon put a stop to that. I may not have understood all the jokes but I enjoyed what I did understand.
I’ve always loved Queen, particularly played really loud as we drive down the motorway. So when we heard ‘We Will Rock You’ was coming to the Birmingham Hippodrome we had to go. A lovely theatre and a GREAT show. The audience were a bit quiet at first, but once they saw Maria and me joining in they soon livened up, and by the end the whole place was rocking.
We had the usual Bear Fair at the end of August and Maria felt rather harrassed because she was also trying to organise our trip to Hungary at the same time. Despite all her fuss it all got sorted out in the end. The Fair went well and we are now in last bits of packing.
John is fussing about how much stuff we are taking (blaming Maria for most of it), and Maria keeps telling me I can’t take things. I mean, for heavens sake, it’s not as if I’m trying to take loads. Just my hat and sock (I really should have knitted the second one) in case it gets cold, and a few bits to keep me entertained, like my guitar and kite (which Claire very kindly bought me and NOBODY has taken me out to fly).
I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about, we are taking the car!
We’ll be gone for almost 4 weeks and I’ll try to post as often as I can.
Chelsea Flower Show
May 20th, 2009We had a busy day yesterday and I couldn’t post. Firstly John was too mean to pay for another days internet access and then he said he wasn’t prepared to sort through all his 350(!!!!!) photos from the day to find the ones I wanted. Who takes that many photos in one day?
Anyway back to yesterday, we had gone to bed late on Monday but we were up in good time on Tuesday (even Maria), we wanted to get to the show in good time, before the crowds if possible. Apparently the show is totally sold out and tickets for yesterday were changing hands at £150!
We were going through the gates at 8.20 and decided to start with the Eastern Avenue and Maria was immediately oh-ing and ah-ing over jewellery, pictures, bags, sculptures etc. etc. and that’s before we saw any plants. John showed a lot more backbone than usual and we managed to make it to 10 o’clock without buying anything. By then we had seen loads, including an eco-garden with places for bugs etc. to set up home.
And of course lots of beautiful plants.
We were all ready for a sit down and a bite to eat. While we had breakfast I had a look at the show catalogue so we could continue with a bit more purpose.
We decided to go and look at the flower arrangements, Maria had heard about a floristry competition to do with hats. On our way we passed right next to one of Maria’s heroes, apparently he’s pretty sexy for his age. I can’t see it myself.
The flower arrangements were lovely but not the ones we were looking for. Those were apparently in the Grand Pavilion. So off we went. WOW. The wallet had to come out and we have plants arriving over the next few months, and we came away with seeds. John said now he worked from home, he fancied growing some things from seed. Maria embraced this idea with enthusiasm and he now has plenty to do. John took loads of photos and I can’t possibly put even his much abridged set on here, so this is just a ’small’ selection. You can view his abridged set here.
I also made a new friend. The show is held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital where the Chelsea pensioners live. This is me with Sergeant Taylor. Some great bonsai trees in the background.
By now we were shattered again, so we went outside for a listen to the band and a sit down. Luckily the sun was shining and the ice cream was lovely. While it was lovely outside we thought we’d have a look at the show gardens. Maria and John loved the courtyard gardens.
My personal favourite was the James May Plasticine garden.
Apparently they couldn’t award a normal medal because he had no living plants, but they specially made him a plasticine gold medal, the first (and last) one ever awarded.
We were getting pretty tired by now and decided we would find the hats and then call it a day. They were well worth searching out.
We were so glad we only had a short taxi ride back to the hotel, rather than the long drive back to Nottingham. We were all tired out and I think we all had a quick nap, well I know I did.
Then we went for our evening meal, down to Trader Vic’s again, for a proper meal this time. It was one of the best meals out we’ve had recently. I can’t decide which was best, the piri piri prawns or the Indonesian lamb with satay. Although the banana fritters with rum sauce was pretty good. And the cocktails were great again. Good job we didn’t have to go far to our room.
This morning it was checkout and back to everyday life. The Patchings Festival is in a couple of weeks, so lots of work to do.
London and Jersey
May 18th, 2009They tried to sneak off without me but I sat in Maria’s handbag so they couldn’t leave without me noticing. The drive down in John’s new car was nice and smooth and at least we’re staying at a decent hotel. The Park Lane Hilton, I gather John got a great deal on something called Lastminute.com.
The room is nice, pretty big for London. We got here mid afternoon and we had tickets for the theatre this evening, so we thought we’d grab a bite to eat before hand.
There is a great selection of restaurants and bars in the hotel. We decided to go for something different and went down to Trader Vic’s in the basement. A sort of Polynesian bar/restaurant.
Their cocktails are fantastic and certainly pack a punch. (Maria said she wouldn’t let me have any more if I didn’t stop making bad puns.
We also had a quick mixed platter with prawns, ribs, pork and crab, and a couple of nice dips. Just enough to keep us going.
We grabbed a cab to the theatre. I would have though Maria would have learned her lesson from the time John took us to totally the wrong place in Budapest,but she let him tell the cab driver which theatre to take us to. By the time Maria pointed out we were outside Mama Mia but had tickets for Jersey Boys, the cab had gone. So we had to traipse across half of London, well half of Soho anyway. Mind you it did a lot for my education, the shop called Trashy Underwear was probably the least eye popping.
Still every cloud has a silver lining, we passed a shop with some lovely chairs, sofas and chaise lounges in the window. And they were in MY SIZE. John bought an easy chair.
Maria is now claiming it’s for a girl bear or a doll! As if! This discussion is not yet over!
Any way the show was FANTASTIC, I didn’t know Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were responsible for so many hits. Maria had to have the CD, mind you I won’t mind listening to it on the way home.
We got back to the hotel pretty pretty late, so since we want to be up early for Chelsea we’ve ordered room service and I’m just writting this while we wait.
Looking forward to tomorrow, we’ve been watching it on telly and it looks great.
Barry Island (said with a Welsh Accent)
April 28th, 2009
Claire had to go back to work today (boy did she moan about it), so once she’d gone Maria,John and I packed and tidied up. As the weather was nice but the forecast was not good we decided to set off.
We had nowhere particular to go so we decided to visit Barry Island. I was brill, full of candyfloss, seaside rock, fish and chips and doughnuts.
There were some great looking rides but saddly we were too early and they weren’t open yet. Maria and John didn’t seem too keen on hanging around to wait.
I looked in all the arcades but saw no sign of Nessa, which was a shame. Maria and John kept going on about a ‘blast from the past’ and ‘the seventies’, just how old are they?
We had a smattering of rain so decided to head off. We drove through the Rhondda. Some beautiful scenery.
We were just wondering what we were going to have for tea when we a sign for a venison centre.
I loved the carved deer in the car park.
We bought some lovely venison for tonight and some pasties for lunch.
It’s good to get back home, it’ll be nice to sleep in our own beds, but we had a lovely break and it was nice to see Claire.
Maria and John are off to the Chelsea Flower Show later in May and they’re staying at the Park Lane Hilton, so if they think I’m staying at home, they’ve got another think coming.
Second sock syndrome
April 27th, 2009We woke up to some miserable weather this morning, grey and wet. Maria and I were up first (about 8-ish), so since the other two were still snoring away I suggested this would be a good time to teach me to knit. Avoiding John and Claire butting in with conflicting and irrelevant advice.
I felt it would be a pity to use my lovely posh wool for my first attempt so Maria let me have some of her cheap sock yarn.
She’s not a bad teacher but can get a bit stroppy and her instructions can get muddled. Luckily I’m a quick learner. We tried following the pattern. I don’t know what sort of bear it was designed for but it was far too small, and I have dainty feet. Happily I have a very logical mind and with a few (not always helpful) suggestions from Maria I managed to adjust the size.
By the time Claire and John got up I was more or less done. Not bad for a first attempt.
John wanted to buy some laver bread and cockles, we needed some bits for tea, Claire and Maria wanted some more rings for Dorset buttons and I fancied some ice cream. So we decided to brave the weather and go out.
Did you know laver bread is nothing to do with bread? It’s sea weed!!! And who ever first though to eat cockels? John offered to share but we all politely refused, however we did buy some beautiful king prawns for tea.
We then drove to Mumbles for some ice cream at Verdis, the other three wanted some lunch as well so I nibbled on a bit of garlic bread to keep me going until they were ready for dessert.
What I was really there for is the ice cream.
The weather was still pretty so-so, so we decided to go back to the flat and potter around.
Maria decided to make some more Dorset buttons. I offered some helpful suggestions but she didn’t seem appreciative. Claire made a nice chocolate dessert for tea but didn’t need anyone to lick the bowl. Frankly I was getting a bit bored, there was some suggestion I should knit the second sock, but having done one I don’t fancy repeating the same thing again. Apparently there is a name for this feeling, it’s called ‘Second Sock Syndrome’.
Dorset Buttons
April 26th, 2009So off we went again, at least this time John was with us and he wasn’t over excited.
We had a few bits and pieces of food to taste and at lunch time John sneaked me some cider. I think it was pretty strong ‘cos next thing I knew I was sitting on a tray with some lobster and prawn. Luckily I got away before the octopus got me.
Apparently Maria and Claire had booked onto a class making Dorset Buttons (I had no idea what they were) in the afternoon, I was so bored by then that I decided to join them.
Rather surprisingly I really enjoyed it, and was pretty good at it. Even the official show photographer took my photo, he felt it would be really good publicity for next year.
By the end of a couple of hours I had a pretty good collection of buttons.
Perhaps there’s more to this working with wool than I thought. When Claire found a small ball of wool and a sock pattern for a bear of my size, I persuaded her to buy it and Maria has agreed to teach me to knit.
I don’t know what we are doing tomorrow but I do know Wonderwool is finished so it will be something different. John said something about going to see red kites being fed. I hope they don’t fancy bear to eat, they are blooming big birds and I’m not sure I could fight one off on my own.
Wonderwool Wales
April 25th, 2009It’s been a while since I went anywhere, to be honest I think John and Maria have been deliberately sneaking off without me. Even when they took me with them they left the computer behind so I couldn’t post.
When I heard they were off to Wales to visit Claire and go to something called Wonderwool Wales, I must admit I wasn’t very interested. In fact I was surprised John wanted to go. However I found out what they were trying to keep from me is that Wonderwool was combined with something called Mid Wales Mouthfull!!! Tastings of chocolate, cider, beer, cheese, puddings etc. etc…. and they weren’t going to take me!!! I was totally prepared to put up with a bit of wool and a few sheep for all that.
John has recently had a new car so the drive over was lovely. We went straight to the Royal Welsh Showground in order to meet Claire there. Even though we phoned her from home before we set out and she only had to come from Swansea we got there wayyyy before her. John wasn’t staying so he dropped me and Maria and then swanned off. So of course I had to hold the fort and listen to Maria eulogising about wool and colour and texture….(zzzz..).
At least the sheep, alpacas and angora rabbits were fun to look at.
When Claire arrived at least I could take a back seat as far as the wool was concerned. I did enjoy tasting the cheese and the puddings. They wouldn’t let me try the cider or the spirits, something about me being too young.
We hung around until the bitter end, they almost had to kick us out, but at last we were on our way to Swansea.
Then of course they dropped the bombshell. We’re going back again tomorrow.
Back Home
February 28th, 2008Well, it’s been great, but time to go back home. We are not flying out until the middle of the night so time for one last day. We thought we’d better check if we had enough room in our cases or would we need to buy another one. It’s amazing how much shopping Maria has managed to do.
Luckily, with the weather being so nice, we had packed light, so there was enough room. John still had to go out and pick up the silk shirts he was having made, and of course once she’d seen there was a bit of space left, Maria decided she needed some more shopping. Apart from anything else Claire had decided she needed an elephant (honestly, just ‘cos I had one.)
We saw another of John’s famous scaffolds, This one made from METAL!!! Being used in a very safe manner.
We then packed and mooched around for a while. We decided to have our meal in Stir, outside under the palm trees. The meal was lovely, they made a special lamb curry for Maria, and we will miss all the different breads. Much as we have enjoyed the food here, it will be nice to have something other than a curry for a change.
The car picked us up in good time and we only had one near miss on the way to the airport. Now it’s just a long flight and then a short hop accross from Paris. We’re all looking forward to getting back home.
View from our window.
February 24th, 2008We are coming to the end of our stay, only one more day after today. Every morning when we wake up there are black kites circling outside our window. John reckons there are up to about 50 of them within sight.
They ride the thermals, rising higher and higher. We are one side of the hotel and the view is a sort of microcosm of India. You look in one direction and you see what you would imagine a typical Indian city would look like.
The other direction you get a much more 21st century look.
And then of course, straight down, you see the hidden India.
Yesterday and today there has been a transport strike, essentially by commercial vehicles, lorries etc. but taxi cabs have joined in. They are protesting against the fixing of speed governors to their vehicles in an attempt to make them obey speed limits. This does not appear to have left roads much emptier, the auto rickshaws and bikes seem to have filled any available spaces.
We went for a walk to Cauvery, one of John’s favourite stores, and apparently becoming one of Maria’s. Just how many sandalwood carvings, enamelled bowls and embroidered bags do we need?
John is totally fascinated by the bamboo scaffolding.
Mind you, even I was impressed by this one. To think people actually work up on those platforms!
We strolled back to the hotel and had a beer and lunch in the bar and then sat out by the pool for a while. I thought about taking a dip, but I haven’t got a cossy with me.
