Getting up-to-date

Last weekend we went over to Bristol once more to catch up with Uncle Tony and Aunty Ingrid.  My cousin Teresa and her family have returned back to England after close to fourteen years working in Bangladesh.  Teresa and Mark are both doctors and worked at LAMB – the Lutheran Aid Mission Bangladesh.  They are now living in Gloucester so Tony and Ingrid had arranged with Teresa that we would all go over for dinner on Saturday.

We drove over to Bristol on Friday night, and while it would normally take only two hours, this time it took three.  The weather at our end was just awful, and the M25 was stationary.  We didn’t need the M25 but it seemed that everyone who usually did was avoiding it by using our roads.  Tony and Ingrid very patiently held supper and waited for us which was lovely of them.

On Saturday Grant and I went out shopping in the morning, and after lunch we all visited Julian and his family before driving across to Gloucester.  Teresa had planned a lovely exploratory walk from her home to Gloucester Cathedral, taking in some very interesting sights along the way.   The town centre is a fascinating mix of old and new; some of the buildings are delightful and highly original.  The Cathedral itself is exquisite; the detailing is so fine and has weathered the centuries so well.  Teresa pointed out that part of the first Harry Potter film (the bit with the troll) was filmed in the cloisters which are gorgeous.  We then walked back to her house along the river and saw a lovely shipwrights where they still build beautiful wooden ships.

Teresa and Mark had invited their good friends Colin and Chris (and their two boys), who had worked with them at LAMB, over for dinner as well.  Colin is originally from Whangarei so we had a great time talking about NZ.  At one point in the evening the conversation even turned to rugby instead of politics!  It was so lovely to catch up with Teresa and Mark and their girls finally; they have been back in the country since late July but have been busy settling back into work and school.

On Sunday morning, Grant and I were taken for a lovely walk up to the Folly, which looks out over the Avon valley.  At this time of year the colours are just beautiful, and we so enjoyed getting out in the fresh air.  The hills did come as a bit of a shock though, and made us realise just how long we have been away from Wellington.  We felt we had truly earned our delicious roast beef lunch before we had to drive home once more.

This weekend we decided to take things a bit quieter. We have a couple of big weekends ahead, and so wanted to catch our breath. Still, we couldn’t just sit around at home. Saturday dawned clear and crisp so we decided to head in to Borough market again, with the objective of getting some of the yummy food and bringing it home again. When we went there with Selwyn we were going to be out all day and so couldn’t buy stuff to bring home. Last time we’d been there, there’d also been a mix up about getting coffee too. Siobhan had had a chai tea of some description, and so when I went for coffee, I thought that I was only getting one for me. I got it from this chocolatier, and while I can’t really remember how good the coffee is back in Wellington any more, this was just divine. It made me even more popular last time.  This time, my instructions were clear though. 

You know when you remember something being really good and you go back there and it is not as good as you remember it and you come away feeling disappointed, well this wasn’t one of those times. I don’t know what they do to their coffee, but it is crazy good. It is real coffee goodness, but not bitter and oh so smooth. The place is a chocolatier called Rabot Estate, and we’ll have to take Jared there so he can tell me what they’re doing with their coffee. But before the coffee we got a boneless pheasant with plum and ginger stuffing to cook for Sunday dinner, and some venison sausages. The pheasant was very nice (a little dry even in an oven bag), and Siobhan even got a bit of lead shot with hers.

From there we wandered back past the Twinings tea shop which was very nice.  While Twinings have a lot of yummy flavours of fruit tea over here, the supermarket only seems to stock a couple of them at a time.  It was great being able to stock up on their range of flavours, and try some new ones.

As we had also been browsing clothes shops as we had wandered, we then decided that we’d go home, drop off all the shopping and then go to Guildford. I have bought a blazer as I can wear it to work and can also wear it at the weekends depending on what we are doing. I like it. I was keen to find one that was a bit different, and Guildford has some more quirky shops. So we got to Guildford and headed to the main street. The first shop we went into had exactly what I wanted. It was a beautiful wool blazer, really nice tailoring, and a really subtle shade of purple. It was so cool. It was also £995 and so we didn’t stop to see if they had it in my size. That would have just made me sadder. We wandered some more. We looked at all sorts of other stuff. I eventually got something that will be ok. Not perfect though. Anyway, it was just a jacket. Or as my old school friend Chris noted on Facebook, a decent second car (note from Siobhan – or a ticket home to NZ).

Having shopped all day, we thought that we should go do the groceries too and then we wouldn’t need to go anywhere on Sunday. And we needed to get the ingredients for making the Christmas pudding. Also, we needed to get an air freshener. You know how it is always suggested that you eat less red meat and more fish or vegetables? Well, we bought some fish from the supermarket and made a really nice fish pie. And our flat has stunk of fish for about 5 days now. Even though the pie and all the packaging from the fish is long gone.  Opening windows over here hasn’t made the slightest difference. So we got an air freshener and on Sunday morning the place smelled of vanilla fish. By Sunday evening though, it was just vanilla. The Christmas pudding is also steaming away on the stove. Nearly all sorted to face the new week at work. Well, it is for me – Siobhan has the week off for mid-term break – then we’re off on Thursday to Barcelona!!