Tom and Hannah were at home this weekend. They called in on Saturday on their way back from a short break in the Peak District. Sounded like a nice break - they watched Manchester United in the European Cup on Tuesday and then to Derbyshire on Wednesday for three nights.
They got to us around lunchtime and we were in time for a walk with the dogs during the afternoon.
Tom and I took them across the fields to Knarr Fen Road. I've been keen to give Gravel some time off his lead and so I let him off quite early. He didn't stray too far, but as we got a field away from the road (and just as I was going to get them on the lead) he caught a couple of scents and wouldn't come back.
He didn't run far, but was deaf to all calls, which is always cause for concern. I would have waited for him, but Tom wanted to turn back in the hope that he'd follow us, which we did and he did. I was tempted to give him a bit longer off the leash, but thought I'd nab him while I could, so he walked back on his extending lead.
We made it a longer walk by heading across the fields to Toneham and back down the avenue.
Holly, in contrast to Gravel, is a model of good behaviour. She doesn't venture as far and generally comes back first call. I wish Gravel was the same, it would allow us to exercise him much more easily and make walking more pleasant.
Back home, Margaret had 'run them a bath'. There was a bucket of soapy water and two watering cans for the rinse cycle. I have to say that once they were dry, they were lovely and clean.
After dog walking-and-washing duties, it was getting dark, so we retired to the Rose and Crown for beer. Steve had Young's Gold on and it was in good condition - went down very well.
We were back home for 6pm and because I'd done dinner earlier, we only needed rice and a naan putting on.
I'm trying a few vegetarian dishes that we can all eat and so on Saturday night I did Tikka Masala with Quorn pieces instead of chicken and on Sunday I made Margaret and I baked risotto with Quorn. Margaret has found some Knorr stock cubes that are like a tick gel rather than dry like an Oxo cube and the vegetable stock was really nice.
That's two meals I can easily make over Christmas.
On Sunday, I spent some time taking Tom through the family tree I've been building on Ancestry.co.uk. He had suggested that we photograph some old photos and documents instead of scanning them, so we spent some time with tripod and camera looking for good light.
I added more old pictures to Flickr and Ancestry later in the day. I tried a bit of gardening during the afternoon, but couldn't generate any enthusiam. There was a really cold wind and I seemed to be in a bit of a nesh mood.
In the end we finished off a bit of Christmas shopping. We've done a lot online this year, but got Tom's last present from the shop.
Margaret has given all three boys a Christmas tree ornament every year since they were born. They've always sat on our tree. Two years ago Sam got his for his own tree (and so had his decorations given to him) and this weekend, Tom's were packed up so he and Hannah could have them on their tree (first time they've had one).
As a consequence, our tree will be a little bare this year, although Margaret is planning to varnish and decorate some gourds that we grew this summer. I think they'll look quite nice.
Down in London all week. I'm staying over at Sam's on Wednesday (not seen him and Lucy for a while) and the week is being rounded off with a Kate Rusby concert at the Barbican on Friday. Looking forward to that.
They got to us around lunchtime and we were in time for a walk with the dogs during the afternoon.
Tom and I took them across the fields to Knarr Fen Road. I've been keen to give Gravel some time off his lead and so I let him off quite early. He didn't stray too far, but as we got a field away from the road (and just as I was going to get them on the lead) he caught a couple of scents and wouldn't come back.
He didn't run far, but was deaf to all calls, which is always cause for concern. I would have waited for him, but Tom wanted to turn back in the hope that he'd follow us, which we did and he did. I was tempted to give him a bit longer off the leash, but thought I'd nab him while I could, so he walked back on his extending lead.
We made it a longer walk by heading across the fields to Toneham and back down the avenue.
Holly, in contrast to Gravel, is a model of good behaviour. She doesn't venture as far and generally comes back first call. I wish Gravel was the same, it would allow us to exercise him much more easily and make walking more pleasant.
Back home, Margaret had 'run them a bath'. There was a bucket of soapy water and two watering cans for the rinse cycle. I have to say that once they were dry, they were lovely and clean.
After dog walking-and-washing duties, it was getting dark, so we retired to the Rose and Crown for beer. Steve had Young's Gold on and it was in good condition - went down very well.
We were back home for 6pm and because I'd done dinner earlier, we only needed rice and a naan putting on.
I'm trying a few vegetarian dishes that we can all eat and so on Saturday night I did Tikka Masala with Quorn pieces instead of chicken and on Sunday I made Margaret and I baked risotto with Quorn. Margaret has found some Knorr stock cubes that are like a tick gel rather than dry like an Oxo cube and the vegetable stock was really nice.
That's two meals I can easily make over Christmas.
On Sunday, I spent some time taking Tom through the family tree I've been building on Ancestry.co.uk. He had suggested that we photograph some old photos and documents instead of scanning them, so we spent some time with tripod and camera looking for good light.
I added more old pictures to Flickr and Ancestry later in the day. I tried a bit of gardening during the afternoon, but couldn't generate any enthusiam. There was a really cold wind and I seemed to be in a bit of a nesh mood.
In the end we finished off a bit of Christmas shopping. We've done a lot online this year, but got Tom's last present from the shop.
Margaret has given all three boys a Christmas tree ornament every year since they were born. They've always sat on our tree. Two years ago Sam got his for his own tree (and so had his decorations given to him) and this weekend, Tom's were packed up so he and Hannah could have them on their tree (first time they've had one).
As a consequence, our tree will be a little bare this year, although Margaret is planning to varnish and decorate some gourds that we grew this summer. I think they'll look quite nice.
Down in London all week. I'm staying over at Sam's on Wednesday (not seen him and Lucy for a while) and the week is being rounded off with a Kate Rusby concert at the Barbican on Friday. Looking forward to that.
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