We also managed to snaffle a couple of days away, firstly with Mark & Charlie, who have rented an AirB&B in Somerset for a whopping 40 nights this year!
Very clear why – it was beautifully appointed, with two very smart rooms, kitchen, large lounge and set in a very large garden with many – many – fruit trees. Managed a few trips out, including to Babington House, where Mark is a member, for a game of padel – the first time we have played them. Thanks to Hawksey being a total ringer at everything (and having played a fair bit of panel since we joined David Lloyd), we beat them. And then went for a cracking lunch at Higher Farm nearby. Honestly one of the best meals I have ever had – and I am now a convert to pea & ham soup, which they had turned into a silky and utterly delicious surprise.
The garden did of course mean that we were all sent out with bags to get picking (with the owner’s permission obvs) and came home with about 300 apples stinking out the car, ready for our next weekend away – at Fi & Rich’s house, all ready for cider making!
H & Rich have upgraded their cider making kit this year and the whole thing went much more swiftly and with fewer blisters than the old gear gave rise to! Using our apples and the ones from their orchard they knocked out a massive 200 pints (or was it more??) of the yellow apple magic.
Had a pint or two in the village to celebrate, along with Rich’s mother and his oldest nephew Josh, then a cracking dinner back at the ranch.
Back at home, it was time to collect one of my older ladies – Jo – and whip her out to a local patisserie for a cake-filled birthday treat. We made the most of it, using her birthday as an excuse to try 6 of their sugar-filled offerings, and I’m sure I was high as a kite for the rest of the day…
Just a couple of the options are pictured here – we went for 3 rounds, which was a fine effort all round! And also shows that you get a lot more for your money when you order ‘a la carte’ as it were, compared to going for a set ‘afternoon tea’ – although to be fair we were hardly in the Ritz!
Our final August social flurry was having my third niece Abbie and hubby Nick over for supper. One of their last meet ups, all being squeezed in at a rate of knots, before Abbie has their first child in early October. SO massively pleased for them both as pregnancy has been a hard path, and we can’t wait to meet the new arrival in a few weeks’ time now.
Boy or girl – place your bets… x
