April

 

 

On Tuesday 1, we went to our nearest Beafeater restaurant for a meal, mainly in celebration of Teresa’s birthday, but partly to fulfil a promise made to Jay on her birthday – hence the choice of venue.

 

 

The Cross Hands is about 20 minutes away on the outskirts of Cheltenham, and, despite the date, was quiet on the day.  Jay had a fruit platter as starter, followed by a mixed grill; Teresa a grilled pork starter, followed by sea bass with scallops (see above); and Roger had the soup (cheese and broccoli), followed by chicken paprika.  For sweets, Teresa chose the banoffi pie, while Roger and Jay both had a Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundae.  Everything was very good and to our liking.  Click on the pictures below to enlarge.

 

           

                                                                                                                                                               Teresa arriving (with laptop)              Teresa and Jay waiting to order              Roger enjoying his sweet

 

 

Snow fell unexpectedly overnight on Sunday 6 April, presenting a picturesque landscape first thing in the morning.  It did give Teresa a good excuse to sport her new pink wellies – a birthday present from Jay.

 

 

 

                                     View from the bedroom window

 

Roger’s indoor bowling season came to an end on Monday 7 with the last match at Littleton, Malvern having finished the week before.

 

Jay has been working in her stables for much of the holiday, and decided to spend most of her earnings on a new saddle for Clyde – a synthetic one, which is much cheaper than leather, but also very light.  It was fitted on Tuesday 8.  Jay had never been happy with the fit of his leather saddle, so she was well satisfied with the change.

 

On Saturday 12, Roger’s turn to mow the Overbury bowling green – his first time this year, which he approached with a little trepidation after his recent chest problem.  Thankfully all went well and there were no unwelcome after effects.

 

The following day, Sunday 13, the Bowling Club opened its green.  Forty bowlers came to take part in the roll-up on what turned out to be a sunny, if breezy, afternoon.  The bowling was followed by a ‘bring-and-share’ tea; Teresa’s prize-winning Victoria sponge went down well as usual.

 

Meanwhile, Teresa and Juliet, having gone out for a walk, decided to ride on our local railway – the first such trip since the line was extended to Cheltenham – and they enjoyed the old steam train and the beautiful scenery.

 

        

                                                                                                                                                        The engine being prepared                    Waiting at the station                              On the way

 

Our 2002 trip on the railway

 

After a clear out in the spare bedroom, and a few breakages to dispose of (microwave, mixer etc), on Monday 14 we visited the local recycling centre at Stoke Orchard (formerly known as ‘the tip’, as it says in the council leaflet).  As well as recycling all the things that are not collected at the doorstep, bulkier items for landfill can also be dumped.  Our relief at getting rid of the pile of rubbish was somewhat tempered the following day when Fizzy had a blow-out, Teresa arriving home with tyre smoking and a destroyed carcase.  Luckily the blow-out happened only a hundred yards or so down the road, but the puncture which caused it is very likely to have been made at ‘the tip’, where shards of glass and metal must always be a hazard.

 

On Thursday 17 we returned Jay to Oxford for the Trinity (summer) term, which, of course, concludes with her first public exams.  Again the car was full to the gunwales, though her packing skills are obviously being perfected because I could see out of the rear window this time.  At the other end Teresa and Jay did the heavy lifting, which involves a very long corridor and two flights of stairs – no lift!

 

On Monday 21 April we tried to fit a replacement Velux blind – see The Blind Leading the Blind

 

 

On Saturday 26 we took a ride on the GWR Fish and Chip Special.

See  ‘The Cheltenham Fryer’

 

 

 

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