Another week has gone by ........

Thursday again and Ben has just phoned with news of his trip to Las Vagas! We had a good weekend with Mandy & Dave and their garden is restored once more. I am waiting to see the pansies in full bloom in Hampton Hargrave. Shopping last night and then to the Ship Inn by the canal. We haven't been there for years and did not have good memories of previous meals. However, all that had changed and there were 3 very snug fires!! Yes it really is that cold here and we have put the heating on in the last couple of days. They had a good varied menu including a set one with 2 or 3 courses for a set amount. We both had mushrooms in a creamy Stilton sauce which was good but could have done with a bit more Stilton. J followed this with pork Dijon with salad and chips and I had salmon salad. J was impressed with the price of beer so all in all a successful evening.
I am off to the Southport Arts Centre on Saturday to help out with a Literary Festival - I have become a Sefton volunteer so watch this space for more exciting things!!! The badger group is looking for helpers for a big survey so I am hoping that we can become involved in that too !
Mel seems fully recovered from San Francisco and jet lag never seemed to happen.

King Cotton

The theatre season is upon us again - Hurrah!! Mel was supposed to go with us to the Lowry on Saturday afternoon but San Francisco beckoned. The play was about the slave trade and also the effect it had on northern towns when the American War of Independence blocked the supply of cotton to England. It was excellent, very poignant in places and really funny in others, particularly God who was played by soemone from TV whose name I cannot remember (we needed Mel!). J was also excited by the fact that we saw the actress who played Thelma in the Likely Lads, long, long ago - she was in the foyer at the interval! We looked round the shops in the Lowry briefly and J bought 2 new shirts. The shops are all discount ones like Cheshire Oaks and Mandy will be pleased to know there is a Karen Millen (?) - perhaps worth a visit when next in Liverpool!
We then drove to Settle for the evening having booked into the Whitefriars Guest House. We went to the Golden Lion to eat and J had whitebait (excellent) followed by rabbit pie (lovely pie, disappointing pastry) and chocolate sundae (just weird). I had vegetable Kiev (rather generous and lots of potato) with red cabbage followed by fresh fruit salad and cream (lovely). The beer was Bomber (following a first round of Wainwright) and not bad at all. The whole lot including 2 rounds of drinks cost under £40 which we thought very good.
Full English breakfast the next morning (after delicious homemade raspberries and stewed apples) preceded the walk (see J's blog!) and cheese and onion toasties at lunch time. A good thing we don't go away every weekend!

Eating out on a Thursday!!

J had things to do on Wednesday night (applying for a job)so I went shopping and we went out for a meal on Thursday instead. We decided to walk the long way round to the Swan at Aughton (sore feet for J) which was very pleasant and the white wine and soda/Guinness were extremely welcoming. However, when we enquired if we could have a table we discovered that they were booked up until 9 pm and although it would have been nice just to sit and unwind for and hour & a half we decided that we were too hungry to wait so long. So we walked to Bellagio which is just nearby and used to be The Place and before that a nice little Italian restaurant - a pity it changed! It is now Greek, Italian and Chinese so the menu is quite long and I had not taken my glasses. We spent a happy 15 minutes with J reading out the menu before deciding on pasta with smoked salmon, tarragon, cream and vodka and for J, duck breast in black bean sauce with fried rice. The food was freshly cooked and good but fairly pricey. The meal with 2 drinks each came to just over £40 and they automatically added on 10% which I think is cheeky!
I have been at work today but J is using up some holiday or he will loose them. He has just presented me with a bird table which he has made from a kit today!! Not as big as your monster Ben but it looks sturdy. Just the right height for Bournville! Watch this space.
The elderberry wine is going very well and has only blooped all over the kitchen once!!

Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness...

Not quite so much the mists but definitely time to pick the elderberries! Off we set for the bushes which produced some fine berries last time (2 years ago?) only to find that they were not very good. We got a few then drove back to the start of the Cheshire Lines path near the garden centre. These were much better and we soon had 2 carriers full of berries, still attached to stalks. Not sure if this was the requisite 6lbs so decided to go over the road to the 'owl' wood. We got another half bag full and decided to check up on the big stone owl as he cannot be seen now that the trees have grown so tall. You will all be delighted to know that he is fine although I don't think any of you have ever seen him - I think even Ben managed to escape that one!
We then set off for Widnes which the Yellow Pages assured us had a homebrew shop. No good having the berries without the yeast! We never found the wine shop but did find a Wilkinsons which sells wine yeast so all was well. Spent a while wandering and also bought a 1000 piece cat jigsaw for £2.99 and a few bits and pieces. The jigsaw was a picture of lots of cat photos, not for the cat to do! I spent the rest of Sunday separating the berries from their stalks and discovered I had enough for 4 gallons rather than 2! I have frozen 6lbs and have set the other 2 gallons off fermenting. On Wed I need to add the sugar and pout them into demijohns. The rest will just happen as if by magic. Isn't nature a wonderful thing? It will all seem worth it when I have 24 bottles of delicious home made elderberry wine to savour.
Mel is getting excited about going to San Francisco and I think we have got nearly every thing ready now for a 7.30 am drive to the airport on Wednesday. J will do the pick up at the end of Mel's holiday. Hope she enjoys it as much as we did, I could just do with a laze in the sun. I don't think Mel will get much of a laze though with all of the things B & M have planned!! xx

Return to Le Frog!

It's Wednesday so it must be shopping night. Good to know that at least one of our progeny reads of our exploits!!! Another major chnage tonight as we headed for Morrisons in Ormskirk at J's suggestion - what a rebel. The good point was that it was very quiet so a relatively stress free event. We then drove round to Le Frog which Ben and Madeline should remember from their visit. Last time we went there we both had a delicious meal so tonight was bound to be a disappointment really! I had leek and parsnip soup which was very tasty and it is good to know that not all chefs have stopped using seasoning. J had a disappointing black pudding with caramelised onions which weren't. My pimento and other vege things in lasagne was OK but nothing startling whilst J's vegs were sent back after some impressive face pulling. Ice cream and cheese & biscuits to follow with lettuce instead of celery and only 6 grapes!! Good cheese though. Whole meal? OK but nothing to recommend it really.
Very impressed with the pen purchase by BJ - look forward to the letters!! Hope you both get your courses/school sorted out so that you can enjoy your last months as students. Is my son really going to tie himself down to the world of work??? Life is full of surprises but then it comes to us all eventually! Where did the Summer go? Packing with Mel at the weekend for the greatest adventure of her life - I hope!! xx