Where to start? Let me start with our last few days with S&R. I decided to take a day off work on the Tuesday and Stephanie and I went into Limoges for a bit of a girly day. We went and did some shopping, lunch and just some wandering around looking at bits of jewellery. It was lovely. I bought some make-up which had been on my to-do list for quite a while. Wednesday being the last day that S&R were with us, we decided that we would go out for dinner. This time we checked ahead that our chosen restaurant was actually open. On Wednesday afternoon, Stephanie and I did a trip into Limoges to get their train ticket for the following morning. We then decided to go back to a jewellery store that we had been to the previous day. All the jewellery is made out of porcelain – something that Limoges was well known for. Unlike the previous day, the shop was silly busy and the process of selecting a couple of items plus paying for them took a good hour. Then it was a mad dash home to make sure that we were ready to go out for dinner (turnaround time – 5 minutes). We then headed out for a lovely dinner – consisting of some regional specialities.
Thursday morning was an early start (5:30 am) taking S&R off to catch their train so that they could get to Bordeaux airport in time for their flight to Rome. We then went to pick-up our house sitter from her overnight accommodation. Back to work for me when we got home. In the afternoon, a trip to the airport, for Pat and I to get our flight over to the UK. We stayed with M&S in Nottingham which was fantastic. We actually went into Derby on the Friday. I hadn’t been into Derby city centre before, well not that I could remember. It was great. We were able to do a small amount of shopping and we were able to get our wedding gift for the wedding we were attending the next day.
The wedding we attended on Saturday (Pat’s niece) was a RAF wedding. It was lovely and the reception was at Halton House (officers mess) – this house was originally built by the Rothschild family. It is an incredible setting – enjoy the photos. I will admit on Saturday night I finally crashed around 12:30 – I just couldn’t last another hour in waiting for the taxi (I’d already had a nap in a quiet corner on a sofa) so my wonderful sister-in-law found me a spare room in the accommodation area and I was able to put myself to bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Sunday morning was brunch at Pat’s brother’s house, which was lovely and incredibly welcoming. That afternoon Pat and I headed off to Wales to see one of his son’s. We actually had the bonus of catching up with both of his boys as A was also visiting. I also finally got to meet baby Dexter – he is a beautiful happy baby so that was an absolute joy. We also spent Monday with them all. And we had the opportunity to have lunch at the venue for P&B’s wedding (Dexter’s parents) which will be happening this September.
Monday late afternoon we headed back to East Midlands airport – unfortunately this meant travelling on a bank holiday Monday. Generally not a good idea in the UK, thankfully we didn’t get too much traffic though I think the sat nav had some odd suggestions at times. Our original plan had been to return to the airport on Tuesday morning, but Ryanair had changed our flight from 1pm to 7:20 am so we decided that staying at the airport the night before would be the best option. So on the Tuesday morning after a restless night’s sleep and an early start we got to the airport at 6am and were surprised to find the security queue out to the departures hall. I’ve never seen East Mids that busy, but generally we don’t fly out first thing in the morning. We were greeted at the airport by our house sitter and we drove her to the train station and came home. We were happy to see our cat and dog – both were there to greet us when we got home. I think Siena is missing her long walks that our house sitter took her on.
The rest of this week has just been work and more work for me. But I have had one French class and one art class (I’m painting a sunset this time). It is great to be getting back into our routine. This afternoon I’m heading out into the garden to do some wedding as the veggie patch is in desperate need of this. We will also be doing some cleaning up as on Tuesday Aunty B is coming to visit.
On that note, see you all in two weeks.
PS – Pat didn’t get his blog done last week due to us being in the UK, so his will be available soon. – – http://patblog.patbell.co.uk
the entrance hall with the wedding cupcakes (which were gluten & diary free and tasted fantastic)
The house from the fountain
notice in the fountain!
me at the fountain
My goodness you do get around! I love the idea of porcelaine jewellery. Hope to see you soon. L