Hello, and welcome to another Sunday. The early part of the week has been cold, wet and windy and it seems that “winter” is finally trying to make its presence felt. We had our first frost on Thursday night/Friday morning and the end of the week was bright, sunny and cold! They’ve had snow further north and various warnings about the impending Arctic weather but so far we, at least, are snow-free. It would be nice if that were to continue indefinitely but the “experts” reckon we’ll probably get our share in the coming week(s).
Oops! Stop Press – our first snow of the season was delivered on Saturday night/Sunday morning! Very pretty and not enough to cause any disruption – that’s the kind of snow I can just about put up with.
It’s been another good week with a couple of pleasant outings as well as a couple of fun-filled days with our Annabelle while Nick and Lucy moved house.
Last Sunday following our visit to the gym, Penelope suggested we go for a “Cream Tea” at the new Marks & Spencer’s on the outskirts of town. Pen had recently acquired one of their loyalty cards and amongst the perks it brought was a substantial discount on their cream tea! So, following our exertions we felt replenishing the calories we had just burnt was essential and an M&S cream tea was just the ticket. Very nice.
If that wasn’t enough excitement for a Sunday, we decided, somewhat on the spur of the moment, to have a date night. We took ourselves off to the cinema to catch The Danish Girl starring Eddie Redmayne (he who played Stephen Hawking so effectively). I have to confess, it wasn’t on my list of films I was desperate to see but some friends had seen it recently and strongly recommended it. So, off we went and we were both glad we did.
If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s loosely based on the lives of a couple of Danish artists, Einar & Gerda Wegener in the late 1920s – early 1930s. Realising that her husband has some underlying gender issues, Gerda paints him as a lady in a number of paintings. As these paintings become popular and successful, Einar comes to the realisation that he is really a woman in a man’s body. With Gerda’s support, he attempts one of the first ever male-to-female sex reassignment surgeries.
A powerful story beautifully filmed and magnificently portrayed by Redmayne and Alicia Vikander – Moreton Pinkney Picayune
Monday was moving day for Nick and Lucy so we had the pleasure of Annabelle’s company for a couple of days including an over-nighter on Monday night. As you might imagine, we played puppets, we read stories, we played hide and seek and musical statues, and a multitude of other energetic activities and by about Monday lunchtime Penny and I were both exhausted! Trouble is, we had her until Tuesday afternoon! Still, Bubble is always very good and we had a lot of fun.
At one point she decided that Grandpa could do with a makeover. Not much to work with on top, I’m afraid but we might be able to do something with the beard.
 |
 |
On Tuesday we had a few errands to run in town before delivering Bubble back to her new home so we treated ourselves to lunch at Ed’s Easy Diner on the new shopping estate on the outskirts of Banbury. Ed’s had been recommended to us by some good friends and, while it’s quite fun to walk into a 50s style diner, the rest of the dining experience left a little bit to be desired. The food was OK, I suppose, for what it is (burgers and fries, basically) and the chocolate milk shake I had was indeed half decent.
Penelope’s coffee, however, was lukewarm at best (and that’s doing a disservice to Luke). It was so lacking in heat that she asked the waitress for a new, fresh cup. The second “fresh” cup was no warmer than the first and finally we asked the “head waiter” what one had to do to get a hot cup of coffee (emphasis on the word “hot”). He wittered on with a variety of excuses before Pen suggested that he simply zap it in the microwave for a few moments, which he did. It seems pretty straight-forward to me – one of the essential staples for a diner is the ability to produce a fresh, hot cup of coffee. Shame Ed’s couldn’t manage it.
There’s been more progress on another one of Penelope’s projects. On Wednesday the electrician finally returned to move some wires and sockets so that the plasterer could sort out our bedroom. He accomplished his work successfully and on Thursday and Friday we welcomed the plasterers who have successfully transformed the wreck that was our bedroom into a nice, “new”, beautifully plastered bedroom. A lick of paint and we’ll soon be able to move out of the guest wing.
The Facebook Fanatic that is Penelope ran across the following the other day. Very cute – stuff like this is why the internet exists!
Finally, several of you will know our good friends from Radway, Erik and Pam Benson who emigrated to France some years ago. We heard the sad news from them this week that their son Mark, who had moved out to southern California many years ago, had died following a struggle with cancer. Mark was a bit older than our boys but they had many happy times together whilst growing up in Radway. He was a delightful, happy young boy who developed into a splendid, friendly and personable young man. Very sad.
Love to you all,
Greg