A Record Day Today

You would think that, now that we are actually living in the house, the upheaval of workmen would be a thing of the past. Nothing could have been further from the truth this morning as the neighbours had to put up with no less than five transit vans turning up between eight and eight thirty. Electrician Trevor was preparing his certificate for the house electrics, Tony the gardener and son Carl were continuing with the landscaping, Roger the builder arrived to put up some shelves and mirrors, Gerald the decorator was here to tidy up some cracks in the new plaster and paint the shelves Roger was installing and Rob the tiler came to sort out some tiling that we weren't happy with in one of the bathrooms (not Rob's work I hasten to add). So the house was a madhouse again and we were both relieved to get out of their hair and leave them to it. Marion  headed off to Carley Hill Hair for a full treatment (her hair looks lovely) and I headed off to the iStore in Ipswich to see if they could do anything with the old laptop. 

Now they have all gone, peace has descended upon the house once again (together with a hell of a lot of dust from all their endeavours).

Until the work finally comes to an end I think that we're going to feel like we are living in limbo and unable to start our new life here in Framlingham properly. It won't be too long now. The new office is scheduled to arrive on 25th and the garden should be finished and ready for planting by the end of March - only another six weeks. (Only).

We are trying to get settled though. On Monday we tried out the new gym - very good. Marion had a new class, Tae Bo, and although it exhausted her, she enjoyed it. 

On Tuesday our old sales director Nick popped over and stayed the night. We didn't have any curtains for his room but we managed to black the window out.

Nick very kindly sourced some fantastic chefs' knives for us so we now stand the risk of amputation at every mealtime. He also took us for an excellent meal at The Station,our local pub (named in last week's Sunday Times as one of the UK's top fifty venues for a value for money Valentine's dinner). It wasn't Valentine's day but it was an excellent meal.

On Wednesday there was a fabulous cookery demonstration by renowned Norfolk (I'm supposed to boo here now I'm from Suffolk I believe), chef Galton Blackiston at Framlingham College. We've been a bit spoilt by the FramSoc run by the college as we've had two great nights there in under a week. Galton is a chef with a personality and his three course meal for entertaining at home was spectacular but also very simple and I can't wait to give the recipes a try. I loved his lamb fillets rolled in the trimmed skin with spinach and black pudding but sadly didn't win the raffle to take the dish home with me. His mashed potatoes were to die for but sadly with my blood pressure they would be to die for and with healthy (or should that be unhealthy?) dollops of cream, butter,cheese and milk I'm afraid that Marion won't be putting them on the menu any time soon.

On Thursday I had a bit of an adventure and headed for London at 6.50 to help out son Paul who was arranging a run through of a number of new TV shows that he and his colleagues are developing. Obviously I can't tell you anything about the shows on here but I took the role of contestant and found all the ideas interesting and several of them very exciting. I look forward to seeing some of them commissioned very soon. Paul's latest creation Beat The Pack is airing on BBC in the not too distant future.

I got back from London in time to take Marion for a Valentine's dinner at The Crown Hotel in the centre of town. It's a place that has had mixed reviews over the years but new proprietors Dave and India have really made their mark on the place and we've enjoyed lots of visits for snacks, drinks and coffees over the last few months but this was our first full meal. It was excellent.  The complimentary Valentine's prosecco set us up nicely. I had asparagus with a crumbed poached duck egg as a starter followed by a rump steak cooked exactly as I asked. Marion enjoyed a home made soup and Guinea Fowl. The desserts of panna cotta and cheese were equally lovely and the young waiters were charming and attentive - a very successful evening. 

And speaking of lovely, these beautiful flowers arrived from our dear friend Liz who worked with us at Instanta.  Not only do they look fabulous but the house has been full of their heady spring scent. What a lovely thought from a lovely person. Hope you can come and see us here soon Liz.

What A Swell Party That Was

We headed down to Southport on Saturday for the first time since we sold the house in July. We met my mum and my sister Julie briefly for a coffee but the main purpose of our visit was to go to our old friend and colleague Liz Clayton's 50th birthday party. Liz is a female Michael Palin - the word that everyone associates with her is "nice"-  so it was hardly surprising that a huge crowd attended to wish her well. She and her family put on a super spread for us and a great time was had by all.

It was good to see old Instanta colleagues Max. Isla, Rebekah, Tony and Peter.

As well as Phil and Craig and a few more who managed to escape my camera. We didn't talk about the business a lot but it was interesting to catch a few snippets about what life is now like in the company after the Brassey era.


We stayed at the Vincent on Lord St on Saturday night (thanks Nick for negotiating a very good price for us). We used to eat there a lot when we lived in Southport but never had need to stay. I have to say that it's very good. Attentive and friendly staff, a beautifully fitted and comfortable (if a bit dark) bedroom and nice attention to detail - plenty of towels, toiletries and (nice touch) a Nespresso machine. With a decent breakfast thrown in it was an impressive stopover.

On the road on Sunday morning the omens were good with the Howgill Fells looking beautiful as we sped up the M6 in the autumn sunshine. After a great meal and good night's sleep at The Black Swan in Ravenstonedale where we are staying for a few nights, we awoke to thick fog but Google told us that Ullswater was going to be sunny.

And Google was dead right. We headed to Glenridding for the 11.10 steamer to Howtown and walked back the six miles amongst some of the most glorious scenery in Britain. Forgive all the photos but it was a spectacularly good day weather wise (we'd taken the sensible precaution of wrapping up well against the cold) and I can't remember seeing Ullswater looking better. There were quite a few cameramen around with all the gear. They must have taken some glorious scenes. Looking forward to another two nights here at the Black Swan before we head down to Ribchester to meet Mark and Nita from the excellent Workhouse Marketing.