By the Grace of Goldie…

Phil and Fleur are back in the UK this month – with their beautiful little baby girl, Grace (born 29th June). After visiting Phil’s folks in Brum they dropped by Campbell Cottage on Wednesday and stayed over before travelling on to stay with Lee & Julie for a few days prior to flying back to Sydney. We had a lovely evening catching up and Grace is an absolute delight.

On Saturday we met up again at Lee & Julie’s for supper and we stayed over and spent most of Sunday with the Pickrells and Goldies: Sunday lunch at the Lensbury Hotel complex which was delicious, followed by a bit of a walk in the grounds, alongside the River Thames. Lee & Julie’s boys have grown a lot – this was the first time I’d seen Max, and Finlay is now a proper little boy. Fraser looks very much like Lee’s Mum – that characteristic beaming smile.

More pics here.

The First Ruston

Mum came to stay with us this weekend – the first Ruston to visit Campbell Cottage since we moved in in May. She took to the place immediately – or at least once she’d had the obligatory cup of tea on arrival…! She loved the garden and sat in the lounge watching the birds through binoculars: Great Tits, Blue Tits and even a Dunnock (small, brown with a greyish cap). On saturday we went to JohnLewis in High Wycombe to buy some wine glasses (broke three inside a week!) and we popped in on the Great Missenden Randles for a cup of tea – Andy was out flying but we saw Carole and the kids. In the evening we went to the Three Horsehoes by the canal in Winkwell for some good food. And they serve an excellent pint of my ‘home’ brew: Courage Directors bitter.

On Sunday the weather was sunny and dry and we went for a local walk across the fields from Bovingdon to Holly Hedges Lane and through the woods along the site of an old roman road. Startled a large Fox in broad daylight, which scampered off promptly. Saw plenty of Red Kites, heard Woodpeckers knocking and found evidence of deer and badgers. Stopped of at the Green Dragon in Flaunden and then headed back to Bovingdon. It was a lovely day for a walk and always nice to get out without using the car.

That evening we went to The Rex cinema in Berkhamsted, where I’d booked us tickets to see Casablanca – an absolute classic and well worth seeing on the big screen, especially in the beautiful Art Deco surroundings of The Rex. I’d forgotten how witty and well crafted the dialogue is in Casablanca – there are so many excellent quips from the main characters – it’s not a comedy by any means but there is plenty of humour. All told – a lovely weekend!

Chan & Subi Supper

The lovely Chan and Subi came to supper yesterday. We’d not seen them for a while and certainly not since they announced they were expecting a baby girl! They both looked well and were great company as always. We showed them around Campbell Cottage – albeit rather dark to appreciate the garden – and then we sat down to Carole Randle’s excellent ‘fish finger‘ recipe: salmon fillets with lime, coriander and ginger wrapped in filo-pastry. Time flies too far and too fast on these occassions but we hope to catch up again in December and go to Barij and Beth’s pub in Aldbury: The Valiant Trooper.

Dave’s new Black Pig

My good mate David Higgins (blackpig.co.uk) has recently added to his extensive stable of motorbikes: a 5-year-old Indian-built Royal Enfield Bullet. The design dates back to the 1930s but the bikes have been produced under licence in India since the mid-50s. Dave and his mate Robin had previously ridden Enfields in the Himalayas a while back and although the riding conditions were somewhat scarey they were not completely put off by the challenge of riding something so primitive and idiosyncratic. The idea of low-speed touring around the UK certainly has some appeal: without speed cameras to worry about and being positively hazardous in busy traffic the natural environment for an Enfield is the quiet country lane so you take your time, passing through places you’d never otherwise see. The journey rather than the destination.

As a trial run Dave booked a YHA ‘camping-barn’ near Leek in the Peak District and I headed up on the Benelli to see what all the fuss was about. I had a good blast up the A5 but got waylaid by fish n chips in Leek and then took the wrong road in the dark and missed the Barn altogether – eventually catching up with Dave, Stuart and Robin in a pub not far from the barn. After food and a couple of beers we retired to the campfire and stayed up til 2am drinking red wine and swapping hilarious stories about the guys biking and generally larking about in Hertford back when dey was in dare yoof.

I slept in my leathers on a wooden foor (not good) and was up at about 8am. Set off 9ish once Dave and Robin had mastered the art of kick-starting the Bullets into life. (I was pleasantly surprised that Nelli started first time having been left ouside on a cold night!). I followed them to Leek were they stopped for breakfast and I headed south – some lovely roads in Derbyshire were spoilt by ever-thickening cloud, turning to fine but constant drizzle. The ride home was not fun, and the Tornado needed a thorough clean after the mud-tracks and the derbyshire douwnpour! Was great to see Dave though having not caught up for a couple of years. Top bloke as ever!