Saturday came and went and for the most part it went very well.
I can happily recommend "The Fleet at Twyning" as a truly splendid place to have lunch with all the family. Great food, great atmosphere, friendly staff, sensibly priced and in a cracking spot on the banks of the River Avon.
We had been here before a couple of years ago and at that time found it to be rather underwhelming. However, at the beginning of this year it was acquired by a small group who run a couple of well known (and very well regarded) pubs in our area and they have very successfully worked their magic on it.
I didn't have the steak after all, but I did enjoy a wonderful duck liver parfait (patè to the rest of us) and a gourmet burger from their special fixed price menu for £11. Three courses - if only I'd had the room for them - are £15, and at that quality you really cannot complain about the prices. Wander from the fixed prices and of course things go up dramatically, but the quality is a constant so the choice is yours. The sea-bass looked, and I'm told tasted, incredible. Without doubt, it was a delight and will most certainly be receiving a return visit.
There were tales of daring-do and stories of shaggy dogs and memoirs of recent events, all of which were most entertaining. Senior Ball received a couple of gifts in advance of his birthday and was suitably pleased with them.
Sister Ball has a new - I hesitate to use the word car - in fact, I hesitate to use the word Rollerskate. What is the word I'm looking for. Something very tiny with wheels.... It's a Smart car. You know, those ones that look like the were going to be a real car and the they got fed up after drawing the driver and passenger seats so just didn't draw any more. In fairness to describe it that way, while accurate is to do it a dis-service. In actuality it is a very cute and practical town car. There's no road tax to pay, has an automatic gearbox and a surprisingly large amount of storage for something that looks like it has none. At £10k for a brand new one with all the whistles and bells it seems like a very "sensible" acquisition. Whatever next!? She was in fine form and is off to America for some work shortly. Senior Ball is in the market for a new laptop and after much discussion and contributions for his birthday, Christmas, next two birthdays and four Christmases after that it appears that he's going to invest in a MacBook Air. And thank god for that says I. Sister Ball has been tasked with picking one up while she's in the US, not least because the £850 that they cost here becomes £620 over there.
After lunch it was back to the ponderosa for a cuppa before they all headed off and Mrs G and I had half an hour to put our feet up and recover. It was short lived though an four or five hours later I was putting the finishing touches to a pack of materials that I've built in preparation for our Monday review. Still waiting from some input from our most recently re-assigned member of the team, so I'm entirely expecting to have more to do later today. I can't wait.
Was very glad of the extra hour in bed this morning, but body clocks don't adjust instantly, so I was Awake at 6am which is now 7. John Le Carrè meant I didn't actually get out of bed until 8.30 though. Daughter was equally glad of it because she and her friends had an extra hour clubbing last night - but then she's in need of the recovery time too I suspect. A difficult balance to find.
Today's plan involves visiting the brown's to help them understand the nuances (because it's certainly not complicated) of migrating from their trudging PC environment onto their newly arrived iMac. They're always fun to see and their two year old is a riot, so an entertaining time awaits.
So on that note, it's time I knocked up some breakfast and got my life in gear again. Depending on egg supplies I'm thinking "the full English" but I might have to play hunter-gatherer first.
Until next time. Stay safe.
This post originally appeared here: Posterous
I can happily recommend "The Fleet at Twyning" as a truly splendid place to have lunch with all the family. Great food, great atmosphere, friendly staff, sensibly priced and in a cracking spot on the banks of the River Avon.
We had been here before a couple of years ago and at that time found it to be rather underwhelming. However, at the beginning of this year it was acquired by a small group who run a couple of well known (and very well regarded) pubs in our area and they have very successfully worked their magic on it.
I didn't have the steak after all, but I did enjoy a wonderful duck liver parfait (patè to the rest of us) and a gourmet burger from their special fixed price menu for £11. Three courses - if only I'd had the room for them - are £15, and at that quality you really cannot complain about the prices. Wander from the fixed prices and of course things go up dramatically, but the quality is a constant so the choice is yours. The sea-bass looked, and I'm told tasted, incredible. Without doubt, it was a delight and will most certainly be receiving a return visit.
There were tales of daring-do and stories of shaggy dogs and memoirs of recent events, all of which were most entertaining. Senior Ball received a couple of gifts in advance of his birthday and was suitably pleased with them.
Sister Ball has a new - I hesitate to use the word car - in fact, I hesitate to use the word Rollerskate. What is the word I'm looking for. Something very tiny with wheels.... It's a Smart car. You know, those ones that look like the were going to be a real car and the they got fed up after drawing the driver and passenger seats so just didn't draw any more. In fairness to describe it that way, while accurate is to do it a dis-service. In actuality it is a very cute and practical town car. There's no road tax to pay, has an automatic gearbox and a surprisingly large amount of storage for something that looks like it has none. At £10k for a brand new one with all the whistles and bells it seems like a very "sensible" acquisition. Whatever next!? She was in fine form and is off to America for some work shortly. Senior Ball is in the market for a new laptop and after much discussion and contributions for his birthday, Christmas, next two birthdays and four Christmases after that it appears that he's going to invest in a MacBook Air. And thank god for that says I. Sister Ball has been tasked with picking one up while she's in the US, not least because the £850 that they cost here becomes £620 over there.
After lunch it was back to the ponderosa for a cuppa before they all headed off and Mrs G and I had half an hour to put our feet up and recover. It was short lived though an four or five hours later I was putting the finishing touches to a pack of materials that I've built in preparation for our Monday review. Still waiting from some input from our most recently re-assigned member of the team, so I'm entirely expecting to have more to do later today. I can't wait.
Was very glad of the extra hour in bed this morning, but body clocks don't adjust instantly, so I was Awake at 6am which is now 7. John Le Carrè meant I didn't actually get out of bed until 8.30 though. Daughter was equally glad of it because she and her friends had an extra hour clubbing last night - but then she's in need of the recovery time too I suspect. A difficult balance to find.
Today's plan involves visiting the brown's to help them understand the nuances (because it's certainly not complicated) of migrating from their trudging PC environment onto their newly arrived iMac. They're always fun to see and their two year old is a riot, so an entertaining time awaits.
So on that note, it's time I knocked up some breakfast and got my life in gear again. Depending on egg supplies I'm thinking "the full English" but I might have to play hunter-gatherer first.
Until next time. Stay safe.
This post originally appeared here: Posterous
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