Our darling little granddaughter Rose and her mum and sister travelled back home to St Andrews on Thursday. We all headed down on the train to London and met up briefly with son Paul and granddaughter Catherine before putting Sarah, Rose and Melody onto the Leuchars train for the long journey back to Fife. It's a very long trek for a two year old and a five month old but their mum tells us that they both behaved perfectly. They bought seats in the first class compartment and the extra space was money well spent.
We enjoyed our brief visit to London. There's always something interesting to see and the blue cockerel on the plinth outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square makes an interesting addition alongside the stately lions and Victorian grandees. Our daughter-in-law joined us later on after she finished work and we enjoyed a good dinner at The Covent Garden Hotel before heading back on the train to Ipswich.
It was so good to have the family with us but a pity that the weather wasn't too good. There were two very tired little people with us after the three days in London and, apart from a trip to Southwold and a quick walk around Framlingham we didn't get to do as much as we had hoped. We hope that they can get back soon in warmer and drier times and we can give them a nice break.
Yesterday we had lunch with a difference when we headed down the road to Woodfarm House at Stonham Aspal and Carl Scott's super pop up restaurant. Carl has turned the house into a restaurant over a couple of weekends in the last twelve months and Michelin trained chef Mark Peters (above with Carl - hope you don't mind me pinching your photo Carl) has delighted the diners with some fabulous menus. We enjoyed seven courses plus coffee and every course was a delight. You might think that seven courses was excessive but each course was sensibly sized and well balanced so we did not feel that we had overdone it. The cosy atmosphere was as pleasant as in any restaurant, the timing of the courses was perfect and Carl was a warm and genial host. After a Venison amuse bouche, we enjoyed shredded duck confit, blood orange marinated carp, Suffolk pork belly and tenderloin, coffee infused pear,and a fabulous local cheeseboard as well as a super sorbet between the fish and meat courses. The meal was excellent and competitively priced and we very much look forward to seeing the restaurant pop up again soon.
If you are a regular visitor to the blog you will remember that a few episodes of Bargain Hunt and The Antiques Road Trip had given me the urge to have another go at buying and selling antiques after an absence of three or four years. My first foray ended yesterday.
This cup and saucer that I mentioned on here after buying at the Norfolk Antique Fair sold for a 50% profit and after selling seven items I ended up about £100 better off after eBay and Paypal fees but it was a lot of work for £100 and, if I am to do it seriously again I will need to be far more selective in my buying especially as I haven't taken into account fuel and fair admission fees.
On a positive note I took a gamble that this cup listed on eBay with this terrible photo for a pound or two could be something good.
I think you will agree that it is.
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