Le Long Weekend

It’s been very busy. Lovely friends and family time before it all kicks off again ‘back to school’ on Tuesday.

Le Long Weekend started when I went round to Pete and Dawn’s for coffee on Thursday morning and had a lovely long chat. As Pete opened the door, he laughed. “Could you park any closer?” he said, raising a humorous eyebrow. Well, actually, no, I couldn’t – and the reason I parked so close to their front door? A sports injury.

Ha! You might laugh, but I wasn’t particularly laughing. After my wonderful mini-retreat on Wednesday, I found I had managed to pick up a groin strain. Silly thing! My leg kept giving way as I walked on it and I ended up having to walk with a bloomin’ stick!! Much to Andrew’s amusement, of course. He promptly videoed me looking decrepit and shared it among the family, who all laughed uproariously……. hummph!

Ah, well – it’ll heal soon enough I expect.

On Friday morning, I spent a good hour and a half recharging my batteries in Jaime’s ‘Peace Pod’ with some Access Bars therapy. That was smashing. Andrew went to recharge his batteries with a massage with the local masseuse. That was also smashing, apparently. We both felt better for our experiences.

And then it was back into family mode with the Kenilworth Newbies calling in for tea. The theory was that we would eat a Jersey ‘Crock Pot’ – a Jersey version of a cassoulet – which Andrew had been entrusted to cook. Unfortunately, he hadn’t fully grasped the length of time it would take and it wasn’t ready by the time we were ready.

Confident of the crock pot being available for tea-time, Michael had also invited the Kenilworth Originals to come and join in, too. As the time neared, it was obvious that a few more hours of cooking were needed, so it was a Friday night ‘Ruby Murray’ for the adults, while the children had the standard Friday night fare of fish fingers, chips and beans.

We were unable to get around the dining table as I had a jigsaw on the go there, so while the grown-ups ate at the kitchen table, Andrew and I entertained the older children in the library area of the lounge, aka the children’s ‘den’. Worked well. Andrew and I always like to channel our inner child.

As it had been Bernie, Danielle’s Dad, who had provided the ingredients for the crock pot, Danielle was determined to sample it the moment it was fully cooked, so the Kenilworth Newbies came round for lunch on Saturday……

Mind you, they didn’t half earn their keep after we’d eaten. While I entertained the children, Michael and Danielle beavered away in the kitchen to clear it up after the Christmas/New Year/every day mess we’d made. I was happy. Oh….. and the crock pot? It was absolutely delicious!!

We whiled away the afternoon with Michael and William having a go at the jigsaw, for which I was very grateful, as Thomas and Oliver sat on my lap, playing puzzles on my phone, and half an eye on ‘Madagascar’ on the TV.

I had come to a bit of an impasse on the jigsaw puzzle. There were only brown/grey/gold furry pieces left and I could hardly make head nor tail of them. Michael did a cracking job and left me with a small central section to complete – which I did, once they’d gone home. Whoopee!! The Christmas Jigsaw is done!

Church this morning with Paul and Freddie – and then a sorry farewell to Andrew, who finally thought he ought to get back to Wales. He’s been such good company – even though he had the dreaded lurgy at one point – and I’m going to miss the endless stream of cups of tea that have been on offer.

We were invited round to Paul’s for a Sunday Roast this afternoon and had another delicious meal. Lovely to be en famille again. All good and lovely and soul-filling.

Now that the festive season and holiday time is over, it’s back to regular life, eh? Whatever that is – it’s going to be interesting to see.

Take care everyone. God bless.