Yay we've got kids

We picked up Roxi & Mat (Richard's daughter & her boyfriend) from Heathrow yesterday. We took them on a very speedy tour of the sights of London. First of all we parked behind Harrods...a snip at £1.60 per quarter of an hour!!! Woah. No we didn't buy anything as I didn't fancy a fur handbag for the bargain price of £1200. (It was reduced from £2000).
Then we went to the V& A....there were so many people around that I had to take photos of ceilings only. This is in the beautiful William Morris café.


This one is NOT of the ceiling though my hair looks like some weird owl underneath this beauteous statue.

This is the amazing ceiling at Harrods in the meat/fish section of the food hall. (Look familiar Thomsey?)
As soon as we got home we HAD to have a game of Yarnoff.
Roxi won!!!!!!

Hammer King

Christmas

Merry Christmas all you lovely blog readers xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We had a lovely Christmas this year. (I could pretend that I made this clever wreath but actually I bought it at Sainsburys.)
With decorations given to me by my friend Kate...too good to go on the tree and these beautiful birds from my sis.

Our groovy star lights...
We had brunch with Clarissa and baby Zebedee first at their house with champagne & smoked salmon, asparagus & poached eggs...
What a poorly boy zeb is though. He has caught the dreadeful cold that's going round. I've never seen him so sick. Just a little couch potato with no energy. The dreadful looking scab on his forhead is a beadie though, something...anything to distract him from the oxygen prongs up his nose.
He did cheer up a little when Richard played him the three little pigs song though.

I cooked a goose. I've never eaten goose before and it was delicious. An enormous amount of fat came out of that bird though. Litres & litres. Enough for our potatoes for years to come. Anyone need a parcel of fat perhaps to tide you over?

I found these cute little cardinal place holders at Martha Stewart. Hours worth of fun on that website....

LURGY

So sorry not to have blogged for ages & ages but I've had the LURGY. Or as they say in Australia...I've been in bed with the Wog that's going 'round. I would even go so far as to say I've had Man flu.
I will never take breathing through both nostrils at the same time for granted again.
So far Richard hasn't had it but everyone else in the known universe has. It's NOT pleasant.
Here's something to take your mind off Christmas and go awwwww.

Harold Lock

The world is a sadder place. Our dear, dear friend Harold Lock died at 84 a week or so ago.

How can I explain about Harold. He was the Dad every one would love to have, he was the man every boy wanted to be.

Harold owned and ran the fish & chip shop here in East Harling with his wife Enid for years. He was on every committee, he rang the bells at Church & sang in the choir. He was gracious and loving, cheeky and fun, he was interested in everything. He was a marvelous gardener an apiarist and a keen cyclist. If you talked to a thousand people in Harling about Harold, you wouldn't find one with a bad word to say about him.

This is the only photo I can find of him, giving the speech at Richard's 60th birthday last year. He and Enid were at our wedding 5 years ago and Richard always said Harold was his mentor.

The funeral was today and I don't think there's ever been more people in the Church here, standing room only and more than 350.

I knew it would be hard singing in the choir looking out at Enid & all his family & friends.

There was an amazing air of reverence as we walked down through the congregation to our choir stalls. The opening sentence of the first hymn 'Praise my soul the King of Heaven' nearly lifted the roof. I started to cry as I remembered Harold turning to smile from his pew as you walked down the aisle. I always walked a little slower when I got to him to hear his lovely tenor voice.

When my Dad died so far away in Australia I asked if I could sit with Harold & Enid at Church that day and I felt so comforted just being near them.

Most of the time as I was singing today I was mouthing the words as my voice just wouldn't work, lucky there were so many to carry the tune. We rang the bells half muffled as everyone walked out, it's an amazing sound as the bell sounds on one side and thuds on the other. We stood them one by one finally leaving the tenor to toll alone.

At the reception afterwards I talked to his daughter Mary who told me that during the last hymn her daughter had nudged her and whispered 'Look'. There was a honey bee on the flowers just next to them.... It's miles too cold for bees at the moment and I've not seen any in Church for months. One of Harolds had come to say goodbye.

Bless you Harold and thank you for all the Joy you brought into the world.

Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends

Things have been pretty hectic around here. For the first time I managed to get presents to the Post Office to get to Australia in time for Christmas....Hooray.
Then all day Saturday we baked.... here are the choux puffs for the birthday cake...before they went into the oven... After they came out. Alongside "Mastering the Art of French cooking" the cookbook that changed my life way, way back in the 80's.
Ahhhh that Himalaya of happiness...the Croquenbouche. With toffee and sugared almonds to break your teeth on. Guess whose birthday it was????
"The Party Girl" Clarissa. Here's a picture of that stunningly handsome bloke with the long hair...Ricky Royale next to her Royal Birthdayness.

The suprise guest was Ben, up from London via a surf stop in Cornwall. I do love a Big man with a Small boy.
There were songs sung by Master Russ, & magic tricks by Monsieur RoyaleAnd then a lot of sleeping on the couch....or trying to at least.

Happy Birthday Darling Clarribelle.