Claire, Si and the girls visited on Saturday and Sunday, and we had a lovely weekend. They arrived on Saturday lunchtime, in time to exchange Christmas presents before lunch. Naturally the girls helped to retrieve presents from under the tree.
Chantal had prepared a full roast, and had disappeared into the kitchen to finish preparing it when there was a loud and un-repeatable expletive. She was carving the roast lamb – usually the bloke’s job, but Chantal likes to completely prepare a meal from start to finish. Unfortunately some of the meat that she carved was somewhat fresher than the lamb – she sliced the end of her finger. She fled upstairs to find the first aid box, having refused any assistance from me, the only qualified first aider in the household. Instead Si was permitted to assist with the bandaging. The situation must have been serious- we didn’t take any photographs. However this resulted in an unexpected treat for me, since I was suddenly allowed to be in charge in the kitchen environment, as I took over the carving (just the lamb, no other bodily parts) while Claire served the veg. Despite the previous consumption of beer and wine respectively I think that we made a magnificent team, and dinner was served perfectly.
In the afternoon we headed for the park in Narborough, always a favourite with Bridget and Megan, but I think that this was Bess and Florence’s first visit. It was a lovely clear and sunny winter afternoon, and the girls ran from each piece of play equipment to the next, climbing, sliding, spinning and see-sawing.
The grown-ups had just as much fun, joining the girls on the equipment wherever practical!
Back in Croft it was time for pudding – after dinner we had been too replete to tackle a second course, and after playing, and having a story,
the girls had a bath before the family drove to Keith’s home to sleep, in the interest of Si’s allergy to dogs and cats.
They returned mid-morning on Sunday, and we all drove up to the City Farm Park in Leicester, where we met all sorts of farm animals. A goose got a little too intimate with Chantal, mistaking her bandaged finger for a piece of bread, giving a sharp peck to her camera lens when the sensitive finger was rapidly moved out of reach.
It was a cold morning, and we were quite glad to retire to the restaurant for lunch, where I entertained Bess with a somewhat restricted game of hide and seek.
Despite a promise of bangers and mash for dinner at home, Si and I could not resist the home made pork and apple pie with chips. After lunch the Hand’s visited Keith’s Dad and Andree, joining us back in Croft later for the aforementioned promised bangers and mash, and time to play, before it was once again time to fill our large bath. Since Claire and Chantal had been on bathing duties the previous evening, this time it was down to me and Si. Despite the lack of recent practice on my part, at all went quite smoothly. My only close shave was removing Florence’s nappy as she lay on a bath mat, forgetting the potential of a significant quantity of poo. Fortunately the poo remained on Florence, rather than the mat. All in all a fun time was had by all four of us.
And then it was sadly time for the Hands to head back north, with the girls fast asleep in the back of the car. It was a really enjoyable weekend.
See more photos in “our recent photos”
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
