We arrived home to Yorkshire after a wonderful 2 weeks in Wales.
Settling into our routine here, we've visited Trevor's mum who at 103 tells us stories from her past - jumbled and mixed up, for sure - but for us, this bonus amount of time that we spend with her, is priceless.
One day I spent with my long time friend, Anne, who I met before we were even teenagers. Reconnecting a few years ago, we've enjoyed many happy hours together- finding that our interests are still amazingly similar. On this day we shared our love of gardening, when she asked me to help her water the vegetables in her very large allotment. I was, though, just an assistant - I am nowhere close to her expertise & knowledge!
Afterwards we returned to Anne's house for a cup of tea, where we spent some happy hours catchIng up, before she drove me home with a gift of fresh produce from her well tended allotment.
Another day of attending to gardens was a trip with Marjie to "Dobbie's" - a garden centre + other stores set in a mini-mall environment - although these other shops take the "back-seat" to the main event - Dobbie's. This store has both indoor and outdoor sections, which include all things relating to gardens - to plant, to beautify, to furnish and to decorate. There's also a huge café and food shop - both with tasty offerings.....no wonder that stopping for tea (or coffee) and cake is a national pastime in Britain!
I helped Marjie spend her money on a large variety of plants & flowers which I also helped to plant when we arrived home. Enlisting Trevor & Glyn's help, we filled a variety of pots, working together to create a splendid display to add to the others in their back garden - which is a riot of lovely colours. We had a lot of fun with this family project - even though we all had various aching parts of our body to complain about on the following day!
Mid week saw us meeting up with Gary and Irene - two of our long time Canadian friends who have been living in Wales for the last 3 years. They decided to see "our" part of the country and visit us in Yorkshire.
Unfortunately all our plans to show them around the area was literally "washed out" with the pouring rain, which continued throughout the day......and the day before......and the day after! The Rockingham Arms was to be the start of our "tour" - but this lovely pub, in our favourite village of Wentworth, became the venue for our entire time together. Disappointing - but we made the best of it - by spending the whole afternoon catching up with each other's news - enjoying the food, drinks and ambience that this pub, which dates back to 1814, has to offer.
After more visits with Trevor's mum, we ended the week with a family get together of cousins. Having reconnected with Phil & Marie last year while in Yorkshire, they also visited us during our stay in Florida this past winter. With our family friendship firmly back in place, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at their home, along with Phil's brother, Barrie and wife Jean. Trevor's cousin, Barrie, thoughtfully brought along some wonderful old family photos of parents and grandparents. With more years than we can remember since we'd all been together, the evening was a wonderful mix of laughter and memories.
Later in the week, I enjoyed another day's outing with Marjie - who kindly invited me to join her and a few friends for an afternoon get-together for one of their number, who is soon to be married. Having met only the bride and one other of the ladies, I forgot any hesitance once the words "afternoon tea" were mentioned.....so off we went to join the group at the chosen cafe in Retford.
Retford is an ancient market town in the county of Nottinghamshire, settled in the valley of the river Idle. This town was given its first charter - the right to hold a market fair - in 1246, which was extended in 1275 to hold a Saturday market. The town features fine Georgian buildings, and a spacious square where the Saturday market tradition continues today.
Our group settled into one of these lovely old buildings, which has been converted into a modern cafe. With exposed brick walls and a glass roof, the whole place is flooded with light. Thank you to Marjie and her friends who all gave me a warm welcome as we spent the next couple of hours enjoying this yummy tea party!
Once again, this year, we spent Canada Day with our family on this side of the Atlantic - a long way from home. Our thoughts, as always, were with our Canadian family and friends - wherever they are - we hope that you all had the best of days celebrating our 150.......we Canadians have a lot to be proud of!