Four busy days filled with activity.  Going here and there, enjoying live performances, good food, interesting conversation and, occasionally, finding a little time to sleep.  Then, all goes quiet again.  Our friends have begun Phase Two of their holiday and life here returns to normal, quiet days at home.  We love it all.  We like nothing better than having a house full of laughter, chatter and goings on but of course, the quiet sunny Sunday morning at home spent pottering about with Radio 4 in the background and the washing machine humming can be enjoyable too.  Thankfully, Ellis and Mary are beginning their week of walking in the Cotswolds with a dry and relatively warm day, because their first few days here have been anything but.

 

 

Our day in London on Wednesday was a fun start and Liberty’s knitting yarns a fine place to begin.  Our heroes found a place to sit and chat whilst Mary and I enjoyed a quick look around en route to the theatre.

 

 

 

We had tickets!   Excellent seats to see a great performance, too.  Afterwards, we strolled around Trafalgar Square and the Mall, taking in the sights around Jermyn Street and fortifying ourselves with a little glass of something along the way.  Unfortunately, we witnessed an accident outside Fortnums en route to meeting Edward and Tra for supper at our favourite Sartoria, but thankfully, the woman who had run out in front of a vehicle turning right was not seriously hurt and we were able to leave the scene in the capable hands of others.  It was a late night for us all though and well past midnight when we arrived home.

 

 

We had tickets for a performance on Thursday too.  We knew we weren’t going to be able to make the show in our local Minchinhampton location this summer, so were delighted to find them in Cheltenham whilst Ellis and Mary were with us.  We had a late lunch at Jamies first and were intending to spend the afternoon strolling around the town before meeting friends later.  But shivering as we were, and slightly damp around the edges from the intermittent showers, we took refuge in the car and drove up to Sudeley Castle instead.

 

 

Far too cold for an outdoor picnic, we appreciated the elegant nibbles provided by Arthur and Barbara, who joined in the circus fun and shivered alongside us as we watched Lucky 13, the story of a group of travelling gypsies who invade the circus.

 

 

It’s the usual riotous affair and completely engrossing.  We’d organised supper in the Circus Sauce tent as always but on this, possibly the coldest May evening any of us could remember, we found it hard to relax because we were too busy trying to stay warm.  How cruel that our Californian friends are faced with such dreadful English weather.

 

 

On Friday, we braved the rain showers again in Bath, but well wrapped up this time, so thankfully, not shivering!

 

 

Close friends and family will understand why we paid homage to Minerva and whilst my hero was delivering heroism of a slightly different kind on his mobile phone, we went inside the Abbey to admire the fan vaulting.

 

 

We left before we had completely cricked our necks and headed home.  We had a little time to relax before our next scheduled activity, which might not have happened at all, but for heroism of a slightly different variety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had supper booked at Hobbs Bistro.  Good food in comfortable and unstuffy surroundings as usual, I’m glad to say.

 

 

And that was almost that – except that there was time for a proper, full English breakfast at Bobs and a quick shufty around the Corinium Museum in Cirencester and marvel at some of the fine carvings and mosaics in there.   We were also very impressed by the embroideries and textile art on show there right now, done by the very talented EAST group of artists.  Something for everybody!

 

 

I hope our sweet friend Ellis won’t mind my posting his photograph of Bourton on the Water, where he and Mary began Phase Two of their English holiday yesterday afternoon at Harrington House, their base for the next few days as they enjoy some guided walks in this lovely part of the world.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the sun continues to shine!