A Weekend With Our Friends In The North

When we got together with six friends for Marion's birthday in March we had such a nice weekend that we agreed that we should try to do it again before too long. Unfortunately we couldn't find a date on which all four couples would be free but six of us were able to make this weekend. 

So Friday saw us with the car packed to bursting with everything bar the kitchen sink in preparation for the drive to Malham in the Yorkshire Dales.

We booked a big old Georgian house just outside the village.

The location was perfect with beautiful views across the dale and we soon settled into the place and made ourselves at home.

Mark and Nita stocked us up with plenty of fine wines from their son Tom's shop - The Whalley Wine Shop - and we settled down to a great Friday evening of food, wine and conversation.

The rooms were all quite grand with high ceilings and comfortable furnishings and we all felt very much relaxed and at home.

The plan was to do some walking around Malham but it was midday on Saturday before the sun finally made an appearance.

Mark, Nita Marion Jane and Dave

The sun's appearance was brief and half an hour later it disappeared again. But we did manage to walk to the top of Malham Cove and back to the village before the rain returned.

Climbers tackling the sheer face of the famous cove

We didn't venture far from the house (that's it just right of centre)

After our short but invigorating walk the rain set in with a vengeance and we settled back into the house.

As Dave and Mark settled down to watch England and New Zealand play rugby on TV I drove to Settle to stock up with a few provisions. The clouds thickened on the moors and I found myself on the remote single track roads with just the occasional nosy visitor looming out of the mist.

Fortunately the house was only five minutes walk from the local pub The Lister Arms and on Saturday night we enjoyed dinner together there.

We had another walk planned for Sunday but the weather turned even worse with huge puddles everywhere and one stretch of road under a foot of water and only just passable. So we found ourselves confined to the cars and a brief walk around the shops in Grassington before enjoying a decent Sunday lunch at the Fountaine Inn in Linton.

What we enjoyed most about the weekend was the chance to get together and relax in good company. Perhaps the torrential rain was a Godsend and made the weekend more relaxed than if we had done the eight or nine miles of walks that we had mapped out. We lounged around, did crosswords and puzzles, watched the X Factor, Strictly and Downton and drank perhaps just a little too much of Mark's wine supplies. 

Nita almsot completed a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that we found in the house.

The views from the house must be glorious when the sun shines

We're back in Framlingham now but it won't be long before we're off to St Andrews to see the family. Maybe while we are there we will find time to think about another get together next year.

Foggy Aldeburgh, Murderous Mexico And A Rare Scottish Coin

One of the benefits of all the exercise classes we've been doing at Fram Leisure is that we can occasionally overdo the food and drink without worrying too much about the effect on our waistlines. Which is a good job as we've eaten (and drunk) rather a lot in the last few days. On Friday night we invited four friends round for some lasagne, wine and music. We made a Desert Island Disc playlist comprising eight songs from each of the six of us to accompany the meal. It is surprising how much wine you can get through in a 3 hours 15 minute playlist. I managed to carry the bottles to the bottle bank on Monday morning though (another benefit of those classes perhaps).    

Saturday started with a good breakfast at The Lemon Tree here in Framlingham and a bit of shopping in town (Marion bought a lovely top at Boo Tiki) before spending the afternoon working in the garden. We went out for breakfast again on Sunday to the excellent Farm Cafe at Marlesford. I love their breakfasts as they serve kidneys as an option and you don't find them on too many breakfast menus.

After breakfast we decided to have a walk around Aldeburgh. A light fog hung over the town and the famous scallop sculpture loomed quite eerily in the mist.

I had a hearing test in Ipswich yesterday so made the most of the visit and went to Cineworld to see Sicario. This is an extremely powerful and violent film about the war against Mexican and Colombian drug cartels.Emily Blunt plays a US cop who is roped into a special mission to assist a shady (but government approved) underground operation into Mexico against the gang leaders. Her role is purely to give some legality to a very dodgy plan  Her accomplices in this scheme are played by Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Torro who, unlike Blunt who likes to do things by the book , appear to have no rules or scruples. The film opens by explaining that Sicario means "assassin" and, without giving too much away assassination is the thrust of the mission. It's an extremely dark and suspenseful film and, although violent,  is filmed in a way that enabled it to be given a 15 rating. If you like tension, great acting and a heavy, throbbing soundtrack you will love this.  

Today has been glorious yet again so I grabbed the chance to get back into the fields with the detector.

This is what turned up this time.

 After sorting out the junk. Here are some of the finds.

This has the look of a Georgian shoe buckle but is decorated with croquet mallets, hoops and balls and lacks any sign of fitments.

Another thimble. Not a very old one this time

Some medieval and post medieval buckles

Unidentified

Post medieval stud

More musketballs

Another unidentified piece. 

Three loom weights 

Fob watch winder

Although there is nothing particularly exciting here, the best find of the day was a little silver coin. It's unusual to find a Scottish hammered coin here in England and there are only twenty-five pennies from this ruler (David II) on the Portable Antiquities Scheme Database compared to over two thousand for the English King (Edward III) who was ruling here at the time.

David II Penny c1357-67 (Rex Scotorum)

Reverse legend reads Villa Endinburgh

 We've got a trip to the Yorkshire Dales planned for the weekend. That's going to involve plenty more food and drink so we had better not miss any of those classes with Alastair tomorrow and Thursday.

A Masterclass With Meandmybigmouth, Spectre In IMAX And A Few More Detecting Finds

One of the first accounts I followed when I joined Twitter was publisher Scott Pack who tweets very entertainingly under the handle @Meandmybigmouth and writes a great blog in the same name (see link over there to the right). About four years ago Scott offered to review and critique the work of the highest bidders in a charity auction that he ran in support of the defence in the fiasco that was the Twitter Joke trial. I was fortunate enough to be one of those bidders and Scott gave me some excellent advice on developing Give Me Your Tomorrow which, as regular readers know, I finally self-published last year. 

When Scott tweeted that he was to be the speaker at The Guardian's masterclass aimed at  helping new authors to avoid the publishers' slush piles, I booked straight away. I am half way through my second novel and, as I want to attempt the traditional publishing route this time, the subject matter was perfect for me. Months later the big event finally arrived and, on Saturday, I joined forty plus other hopefuls at The Guardian's plush offices behind King's Cross Station for three hours of very instructive, useful and entertaining advice on getting our books noticed. Scott was a very funny and genial presenter and, if two things are certain in life, all of the attendees will be really, really really sure their manuscripts are ready before sending them out and none of those manuscripts will be in envelopes stuffed full of glitter.

We went to Cineworld in Ipswich today for this week's cinema outing. We've still got loads of Indie and foreign films on our 'to see' list but what better way is there to spend a wet Wednesday afternoon than the latest Bond on the IMAX screen? Marion loves Daniel Craig's version of Bond (Roger Moore was my favourite) and Craig plays the character well but with none of the humour of the earlier films. As always, the movie begins with a spectacular chase and this one, set in Mexico City during the Day Of The Dead Festival is as spectacular as they come. I would have been quite happy to go home as soon as it finished as it would be impossible to better it - brilliant stuff.

After that the film follows the usual formulaic plot, car chases, a female interest or two, a megalomaniac in a weird super villain hideaway and the obligatory ticking bomb. It's all very well done, very exciting and visually stunning (especially in IMAX) but I felt that I knew exactly what was coming next and that the plot was a bit of a cut and paste job on the old scripts. Do watch it if you love car chases in glamorous locations. With just one laugh in the whole movie, give it a miss if you want the old Bond humour with those chases.

It's metal detecting stuff now so stop reading if that's not your cup of tea. With series 2 of Detectorists , filmed here in Framlingham, due to hit our screens on Thursday night I took a friend who, inspired by the first series, fancied trying his hand at the hobby with me for a couple of hours in the fields on Monday.  Having never used a detector before, he did quite well and his finds included the following.

A Charles I Rose Farthing Hammered Coin 

Medieval Annular Brooch Or Buckle

I know detector users who haven't found any hammered coins after years of trying so finding one on his first trip was a good start for my friend. The annular brooch or buckle is also quite rare in that it has its pin intact.

Spurred on by the gloriously unseasonal weather, I returned to the field on my own on Tuesday. There were plenty of signals.

Here's What I Tipped Out Of The Finds Bag When I Got Home

And here's what was included amongst the junk.

More Musketballs

A Silver Groat From The Realm Of Edward III (14th Century)

A James I Silver Penny (Early 17th Century)

A Post Medieval Buckle Probably Tudor Period

Victorian Penny

Unidentified Fragment Possibly  A Strap End

Unidentified Stud (I feel that this is Medieval)

Loop Fastener (Again, I Believe, Medieval)

Half A Victorian Locket

Decorative Drawer Handle

Medieval Bronze Vessel Fragments

Royal Artillery Cap Badge 

Post Medieval Stud

Croatal Bell Fragment

I will be taking all the latest finds to the archaeologists in Bury St Edmunds next week for recording on the Portable Antiquities Scheme. I probably won't get too many more chances to get out in the fields when the winter sets in so I will take advantage of any more of the warm weather and ,when it turns wet and cold, concentrate on finishing the new novel. 

Our Youngest Visitor

Ever since we moved to Suffolk we've looked forward to visits from friends and family and, so far, we've enjoyed welcoming quite a few guests. This week we had a very special visitor as our three-year-old granddaughter Catherine from Rochester joined us for a two night break.

We collected her from Kent on Monday morning and spent a lovely two and a half days with her here in Framlingham before taking her back to her mum and dad on Wednesday. Although she missed her family and they certainly missed her, we had a great time and packed the days with playing.

The weather was mostly fine and we were able to walk into town for a visit to Leo's Deli where she selected her favourite salami and cheese before going to The Dancing Goat to sample one of their delicious chocolate brownies.

Monday afternoon at 3 p.m saw the launch of Steven Mulhern's brand new game show Pick Me on ITV1. Our son Paul is a development executive with Possessed TV who produced the show and we were excited to see it after hearing all about it for several months. I liked the bluffing format so much that I had a stab at providing some questions. 

And I am pleased to say that, as you can see, the producers did indeed Pick Me. It's a fun show and very different to what you will usually see on TV at 3 in the afternoon. If you take away the fun element and the colourful costumes there's a very solid game of bluff behind it. Steven Mulhern is a brilliant host and there have been plenty of hilarious moments in its first week. The highlight for me so far was 64-year-old Raden's excitement at winning a trip to the zoo. Judging from the comments on Twitter it's a Marmite programme but the lovers far far outweigh the miseries who post snarky comments.

Catherine loved helping her nanny with the gardening.

We turned the living room into a playroom.

Sadly the visit was over too quickly and we drove back to Kent on Wednesday afternoon after enjoying our little visitor's company so much.

We broke the return journey with a trip to Cochester Zoo which is almost exactly half way. It's a very good little zoo and we had a very enjoyable couple of hours. Catherine was brave enough to handle this enormous stick insect. I am not sure that her grandparents would have been as willing to pick it up.

One of the highlights of the zoo is the underwater viewing tunnel in the sea lion enclosure. It was fascinating to watch the animals glide above us like birds.

After getting Catherine home safely it was back to retirement as usual. We spent yesterday on housework but today was more relaxing and I had a few hours detecting while Marion did some more gardening. Tomorrow we're off to London. I'm going to a Masterclass run by The Guardian which is aimed at helping new authors to get their book noticed by publishers. Give Me Your Tomorrow , which I self-published, has reasonable, but unspectacular, monthly sales. I want my next novel (currently 35% complete) to perform better and I hope that the class,which is being hosted by the brilliant Scott Pack (see Meandmybigmouth blog link to the right), will point me in the right direction.

A Week Of Heroes

It's been a relatively quiet week considering our usual hectic schedule but we've still managed to keep ourselves occupied. I've heroically (or foolhardily depending upon how you look at it) done nine exercise classes at Fram Leisure and they seem to be doing my health good as, together with Jamie Oliver's Every Day Super Food recipes, they've helped me to lose over nine pounds since we got back from Scotland in September. I will be posting photos of the six-pack on a future blog (give me a couple of years). Marion's done plenty of classes too and she's done most of the cooking. She complains that she hasn't lost the weight that I've lost despite eating and drinking less but I think she looks great and there's not a great deal for her to lose.

When we did get out we went to see The Martian in 3D at Cineworld. I really liked this film. I went without knowing anything about it so I didn't know whether or not Matt Damon would survive being stranded on Mars (I did feel that the upbeat disco soundtrack did offer a few clues though). It was good old fashioned adventure stuff, with great 3D effects and some fabulous space scenes. Damon's Mark Watney, the heroic never say die astronaut, was, like me, the eternal optimist who, seeing a bucket full of crap, saw a bucket full of fertiliser. Don't delve too deeply into the feasibility of everything in this film and you will love it. Go with your scientific hat on and you will be laughing all the way home.

   
There were more heroics on the small screen at home as we found time to finish watching the TV mini series Show Me A Hero. It told the true story of Nick Wasicsko who was the youngest big city mayor in the USA when he was elected mayor of Yonkers in 1987. The big issue of his mayorship was the public housing development and the resistance to it by racist white residents. There were only six episodes but it was gripping stuff with Oscar Isaac putting in a brilliant performance as the honest and heroic Wasicsko who fought for his beliefs despite a horrendous public backlash. It was refreshing to watch a decent TV series that, for once, didn't involve the brutal and voyeuristic murder of prostitutes. If you get the chance I think you can still catch it on Sky Atlantic.   

My final hero of the week is neighbour Wilfrid. He's ninety now and has had a bad year after being widowed in 2014. Despite his loss and ill health he has been constantly cheerful and, after some great treatment from Ipswich Hospital is now taking a well earned rest at a nursing home nearby. We look forward to visiting him there and welcoming him back when is fully recuperated.

The final bit of heroics was going out with the detector in this weather. I managed to dodge most of the showers but by the time I finished seemed to be carrying most of the field around on the bottom of my wellies. I didn't find a great deal by way of reward but it was good to unearth this thimble which was lost by someone well over five hundred years ago.