I woke up early - just before it got fully light, and I couldn't get back to sleep. I got out of bed just after eight - had tea (kindly brought to me by Pauline), toast, and coffee.
We set off for Chester, after having deposited the morning's post in a red post box in the side of a barn, and parked in the Tescos car park. We split up - Derek and Jill went off to do some errands, and Pauline and I hopped on the famous open-topped Chester tourist bus and learnt an awful lot about the history of Chester. We had all the different periods of architecture pointed out to us - from medieval to Tudor, to Roman, to Georgian, to Victorian, and even mock-Tudor! There was one building (Tudor) which was originally 1600s, then rebuilt in the 1800s, and refitted in 1980. A lot of the buildings are particularly beautiful - esp the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Pauline and I left the bus tour where we had started and shortly after met up with Derek. We walked a section of the city wall before walking back up a shopping street (with 'rows') to meet Jill at the Falcon pub (very nice building) for lunch. I had 'crispy battered cod' with chips and peas - Jill and Derek had ploughman's lunches and Pauline had scampi. I had a half-pint of lager and lime which I didn't enjoy very much, as it was quite strong and quite flat.
After lunch, we split up again, and I went with Jill to find some shoes. We went into at least six shoe shops, not finding anything I wanted (but seeing some very 'interesting' fashion statements), until we got to Marks and Spencer, and I found a pair I'm quite happy with, at £35. We met up with Pauline and Derek, and headed back to the car.
We stopped at Sainsbury's on the way back to get some groceries, and the shelves were fairly empty due to panic buying because of the petrol supply problem. We got back to Brook House having taken the 'country way' back and then Jill and I went for a walk around the circuit from Brook Houe around the millennium monument, then into Tarvin and back through the fields - crossing one 'kissing gate' and two or three stiles.
On my return, I picked up my book again and am now sitting in the garden listening to a cow munching away just on the other side of the hedge. It's pleasant enough to sit outside in shorts and short sleeves. There's a bit of wind, and a fair bit of cloud cover. I can hear farm machinery over to the right, and I think it might be distant thunder - hang on, no, I think it's a plane. There's a little bit of traffic noise, and a few different bird calls - including that nice twittering sound that seems so English. The insects are fairly bad as befits the end of summer. I can now hear some bells in the distance chiming the hour of five.
I did a bit of reading, and then we had drinks. We had a lovely ham dinner (with too much wine!). After dinner I went online and replied to Mum and Steve and sent a bulk email to a lot of other people. Went to bed at 10.30.
We set off for Chester, after having deposited the morning's post in a red post box in the side of a barn, and parked in the Tescos car park. We split up - Derek and Jill went off to do some errands, and Pauline and I hopped on the famous open-topped Chester tourist bus and learnt an awful lot about the history of Chester. We had all the different periods of architecture pointed out to us - from medieval to Tudor, to Roman, to Georgian, to Victorian, and even mock-Tudor! There was one building (Tudor) which was originally 1600s, then rebuilt in the 1800s, and refitted in 1980. A lot of the buildings are particularly beautiful - esp the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Pauline and I left the bus tour where we had started and shortly after met up with Derek. We walked a section of the city wall before walking back up a shopping street (with 'rows') to meet Jill at the Falcon pub (very nice building) for lunch. I had 'crispy battered cod' with chips and peas - Jill and Derek had ploughman's lunches and Pauline had scampi. I had a half-pint of lager and lime which I didn't enjoy very much, as it was quite strong and quite flat.
After lunch, we split up again, and I went with Jill to find some shoes. We went into at least six shoe shops, not finding anything I wanted (but seeing some very 'interesting' fashion statements), until we got to Marks and Spencer, and I found a pair I'm quite happy with, at £35. We met up with Pauline and Derek, and headed back to the car.
We stopped at Sainsbury's on the way back to get some groceries, and the shelves were fairly empty due to panic buying because of the petrol supply problem. We got back to Brook House having taken the 'country way' back and then Jill and I went for a walk around the circuit from Brook Houe around the millennium monument, then into Tarvin and back through the fields - crossing one 'kissing gate' and two or three stiles.
On my return, I picked up my book again and am now sitting in the garden listening to a cow munching away just on the other side of the hedge. It's pleasant enough to sit outside in shorts and short sleeves. There's a bit of wind, and a fair bit of cloud cover. I can hear farm machinery over to the right, and I think it might be distant thunder - hang on, no, I think it's a plane. There's a little bit of traffic noise, and a few different bird calls - including that nice twittering sound that seems so English. The insects are fairly bad as befits the end of summer. I can now hear some bells in the distance chiming the hour of five.
I did a bit of reading, and then we had drinks. We had a lovely ham dinner (with too much wine!). After dinner I went online and replied to Mum and Steve and sent a bulk email to a lot of other people. Went to bed at 10.30.
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