Well, off one road and onto another, as it happens.
We headed off to Chesterfield today to spend the day with friends intended to start (after coffee) with a walk round Chatsworth gardens. We'd had to abandon our attempt a few months back when Helena's brother in law was taken ill, so we'd planned to give it another go today. Looks like we're jinxed though. As we drove past the gate we saw the signs for Horse Trials and the queue to get in was pretty bad.
When we'd all gathered at Phil & Vicky's we discussed options and decided to head off in a different direction - to Matlock. Most of us hadn't been there for a few years and at least one had never been. We suffered the occasional shower and also enjoyed some sunny spells, but when you're in the company of good friends the weather is mostly irrelevant and we had a great time wandering up and down the high street, buying some trinkets, clothes, chips and ice cream.
Nikki & I had a slight disappointment when we arrived at the top end of the high street though. We'd been hotly anticipating having another look around our favourite fantasy art shop (where we had bought "Marina" - the mermaid who now decorates the wall of our new bathroom) and maybe buying another small piece to celebrate our new home. As we approached the corner where the art shop used to be, we could clearly see it wasn't an art shop any more. It's been taken over by a fudge company. Hmph! Guess we'll have to stick to the Lakes when we want to buy art!
No day with mates is complete without a few beers, so we stopped off on the way back to Chesterfield at the Kelstedge Inn. This is a fabulous little place more or less equidistant from Chesterfield and Matlock and the landlady made us feel very welcome (probably because we were her only customers at that time on a Saturday afternoon!). The only thing lacking was a fire in the grate, but the rest of the establishment could have stepped right out of a book on English tradition. Comfy chairs, polished wooden tables, horse brasses, china teapots, watercolours of local views and fine traditional English real ale.
If we hadn't had two drivers with us we would have been happy to stay there all day, but after a couple of rounds we opted to head back to Chesterfield and walk to Phil's local - the Royal Oak - for a couple more before dinner. Vicky laid on an impressive spread for us - cold Greek starters followed by an excellent moussaka, with red berries and cream for afters. Faaaaabulous. Given the choice, Nikki & I would always go for eating in with friends rather than eating out. It's always more intimate, easier to talk, more relaxed, and at the end of the meal you don't have very far to walk! There's a lot of pleasure in cooking for friends, and similarly in eating something that someone else has prepared. Doesn't really matter what it is, everyone has their own way of cooking it and the variety is definitely the spice of life!
After the meal we all gathered round the telly for coffee and to watch the Eurovision results, but it had been a mildly active day topped off with several pints, glasses of wine and a large meal, so as usual I couldn't keep my eyes open so we headed off to bed just before midnight.
We skipped breakfast this morning, needing to get to Mum's early to fill her in with all the news and get away early - we have a ton of preparations to get through for the party and Nikki's brother Paul's visit the week after next - but we did stay for a coffee or two and shared our bathroom refit photos with everyone. Some people bore their friends with holiday photos - we do it with home improvements ;o)
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