Herefordshire Week 102: Tuesday 07 – Monday 13 December 2021

London. Essex Part 2. Home.

Featuring Wine Wednesday, a long weekend in Walton and a Loosemore Family Meal.

Work’s done for the year.

Morning!
Morning!

Tuesday was my first day in the London office since COVID kicked off. Strange and not so strange. The part that worried me most was the morning commute and after consultation with H I opted to get the train from CJ into Waterloo and to walk the rest of the way.

Up at 6.30am – a bit of a shock to the system – and who’d imagine I’d forget which platforms the Waterloo trains run from? The train was a bit busier than I’d imagined but not so different from Monday’s journey in from Essex, and I really enjoyed the walk along the South Bank and over the Wobbly Bridge as a technicolour sunrise took over the whole sky to the east.

Settled into my Hotelling Desk and thankfully the other person who’d booked in for the day was a no show. Got my new headphones working, tracked down my mug and picked up my parcel. These things are Important. Caught up with a few folks over coffee and, at the end of the day, wine. KMCA winter drinks rounded off my first day in the office since January 2020. Then it was the Northern Line back to Hazel’s for a cheeky Deliveroo dinner.

A tiring day. But good to be back in the office and being able to meet people in person again. And I discovered that the southbound Northern Line now has a branch line that goes to Battersea Power Station!


Another full day at work on Wednesday; same commute as yesterday.

Wrapped up at 5.50pm – having to pack everything up every evening and take it back to my locker required multiple journeys and took an age – and speed walked to Bow Lane Wine Vaults for Wine Wednesday. Another “first since January 2020”.

Found Catherine in an uncomfortably busy BLWV and with Boris announcing Plan B. As we loitered in vain for a table we decided on our own Plan B – to go straight to Pizza Express. Rachel materialised as we were texting Hazel (mysteriously late) and it was wonderful to find Virginie at the pretty empty Russia Row restaurant.

Prosecco and pizzas all round, and really special to hang out again.


Thursday was a long day.

I spent the morning in the office for my last “day” at work for 2021. I’m glad I managed to get to the London office at least once this year, and just in the nick of time (Hello again, Plan B). Unfortunately the plan to meet up with D for lunch was foiled by a Ping.

Early afternoon train to Witham to meet up with Phil at his folks for a cuppa and a mince pie, then drove east to the Essex Coast and a long weekend in a seafront AirBnB back in Walton on the Naze.

Walked to M&S and Aldi to pick up supplies – walking to the shops is now a novelty – and then settled in for an evening on the sofa, nice and snug and looking forward to waking up to sea views in the morning.


Friday’s breakfast came with a sea view, then a bracing stroll along the prom to Frinton. Lots of the beach huts showing signs of Lockdown TLC. A potter along Connaught Avenue culminated in The Hospice Bookshop, where Phil bought of a couple of books on puppies…

Lunch back at base then a lazy afternoon in PJs channel surfing on the bedroom TV.

Takeaway Thai from the Pearl of Samui for dinner. Quite honestly the best Thai anywhere.


Saturday started with an amazing sunrise and the seafront flat really came into its own.

Sunrise - stage 1
Sunrise – stage 1
Sunrise - stage 2
Sunrise – stage 2

After breakfast we headed out for a mooch around Terry’s, a successful visit to Lilley’s Bakery and a stroll along the High Street checking for changes. Not so many.

Purchases dropped off at the flat, then back out to walk to Hipkins to check on the beach hut….

Beach hut reflections, Walton on the Naze
Beach hut reflections, Walton on the Naze

All good, so we continued up to the Naze Tower and on to the headland, and all the way along the estuary shore to Stone Point and Pye Sand – making the most of low tide. It’s a lovely wild stretch of strand, tucked between Hamford Water and the Walton Backwaters and Marshes.

Me, Stone Point & Pye Sand, Walton on the Naze
Me, Stone Point & Pye Sand, Walton on the Naze

Back via Hipkins / Hall Lane park with its (temporarily ?) relocated beach huts, Joy Otter Walk and the decommissioned Coastguard Station. Late lunch and a couple of hours reading before we headed round to see Margaret and Richard for tea and cake, and a glass of wine or two. Catching up on all the Walton news.


A glorious morning on Sunday with blue skies and sunshine, so breakfast done I set out for a quick spin around town checking out cafe / takeaway options ahead of the Wivenhoe arrivals. Luxuriating in T shirt weather in December I decided to stretch my legs a little further – over golden sands to the beach hut and along the front to the Naze Tower, then back via Old Hall Lane and Hall Lane to Foundry corner, the perennially muddy footpath to the Naze Marine Caravan Park and along the “sea wall” and more muddy footpath all the way to North Street. Smashing. No camera with me, of course.

With half an hour before Tom, B, Dad and Jean were due to arrive, I picked up Phil and we strolled south along the Prom, passing people eating ice creams and drinking coffee/tea al fresco at Mays, and returning to town along the upper path past Burnt Farm and the Seaview Caravan Park – ready to rendezvous with Dad and Jean, T & B.

Cloud cover caught up with us at the station rendezvous, so we picked up sandwiches and drinks at the lacklustre Potatoe Shack (yes, that’s the correct spelling) and lunched in the green kiosk near Ice Cream Central. A stroll along the sea front took us all the way to Hipkins where dad and Jean took a breather on a bench while T, B, Phil and I continued on to The Links Cafe for tea and cake. Then back to the station, where our guests headed back to WIV.

Walton Wander with Dad & Jean, T & B, and Phil
Walton Wander with Dad & Jean, T & B, and Phil

A leisurely afternoon featuring The Living Daylights, then the 6.30pm to Wivenhoe where T, J & B were waiting to take us all to the Wivenhoe House Hotel. Dad and Jean were staying there for the weekend and treated us all to a long overdue family meal. Very Christmassy, and  easy to forget Omicron, except for the masks.

Today’s the first time dad, me and Tom have been together for ages, stretching back pre-COVID.


Slow start to the day, Monday.

Winter sunrise, Walton on the Naze
Winter sunrise, Walton on the Naze

An orange and turquoise sunrise sky glimpsed through the bedroom window, and a couple of episodes of The Essay. Clouds arrived as the tide receded, and we decided we were missing home, had done all the things we really wanted to do in Walton, and that we’d drive back a day early.

So we did.

Another excellent lunch at the cafe in Ampthill Great Park, a quick shop in Ross on Wye, and home for an evening by the log stove.

Lovely.


And so ended Trip No. 6 of 2021: Essex

Destination: WTM, WON & WIV, way over there on the East Coast

When: December 2021

What: A few days in Witham (P) and Work (M) followed by 5 days in an AirBnB in Walton including dinner with dad and Jean, T, J and B in Wivenhoe.

How: Driving there and back, and the train for WTM-LST.

Why: For a seaside mini-break, time with family and to wrap up the work year “in person” (aka in the office) for the first time since Jan 2020.


TV: At Hazel’s – Masterchef; In Walton – Money Heist season 2 (not as gripping as season 1), What We Do In the Shadows (series 3), The Living Daylights.

Podcasts: The Essay, Books and Authors, History of England.


Photos: Herefordshire week 102 on Flickr.

Phil: f/e 2021-12-13.


Just spotted this is my 800th blogpost.

Herefordshire Week 101: Tuesday 30 November – Monday 06 December 2021

Essex, part 1, and London.

Back in the Barbican (Briefly)
Back in the Barbican (Briefly)

After a hectic Monday, we took things a little easier on Tuesday morning with a lovely stroll down to the Abbey, the footpath around Abbey Dore Court and across the fields there and stopping off for a quick chat with T on the way back.

Back at base, we moved the leftover loft wood into the green shed and set the rat trap by the compost bin, discovering it had already claimed one victim, a mouse from the size of the skeleton….

Justin the tiler came round on Wednesday morning to take a look at the porch and the utility room / downstairs loo, where we want to replace the Lino with red quarry tiles. All good. VWW in the evening.


We had decided over the weekend to head to Essex / London a few days earlier than originally planned so I flexed my working pattern to work Friday so that we could drive to Essex on Thursday.

Thursday turned into a long day.

Up early to discover that a cold night had meant that the raindrops on the windscreen had frozen. The drive east was a dream, clear blue skies, not too much traffic, smashing lunch at the cafe in Ampthill Great Park.  First long run in the Panda, and once at P’s folks we made good use of the car driving over to Chelmsford and back.

So far, so good.

Things started to go awry with the WIV stage of the plan – I was due to drive there to spend the weekend with T and J and to work from theirs on Friday. J’s train journey out turned into a nightmare – first train cancelled due to trespassers on the line, second train broke down before Shenfield and they were marooned there for 3 hours. It all worked out in the end though, with me meeting J at Colchester and driving on to WIV. Late night though.

Worked from WIV on Friday, T arriving late afternoon and we treated ourselves to fish & chips for tea.


Saturday was a busy day – first job was to see what was in T’s boxes from the loft which had filled up most of the car. They contained some gems, including our “attick club” membership cards and several of my long forgotten school projects. I obviously had a stage where I was obsessed with Victorian fashion.

But most of the day was spent with P and his folks. Tom provided a taxi pick up service and back in WIV we tucked into a lovely lunch laid on by Jo. Morning rain had cleared to leave beautiful blue skies and another cold but sunny day. Just right for a potter along the riverfront and around old Wivenhoe and a mooch in the bookshop. After tea and cake to warm up, I drove J & J and P home, leaving the car there and catching to train back to WIV. A good day, but T, J and I were ready for a rest that evening.


Late start Sunday, then the short drive to the University of Essex to charge the car and to go for a stroll around the campus and into Hythe. We also checked out Wivenhoe House Hotel where dad and Jean are staying next weekend.

Wivenhoe / University of Essex Campus & Hythe
Wivenhoe / University of Essex Campus & Hythe

T and J headed home late afternoon and I pottered until it was time for the St Andrews Ladies Zoom. Always so lovely to catch up, and we all have our fingers crossed that it will be third time lucky for our weekend back in St Andrews next summer.


I caught the train into London on Monday morning. First up, a quick nip into work to activate my work locker and to leave most of my stuff there. All good. The first time I’d been into the London office since January 2020 – and Reception team still recognised me 🙂

Then up to the Barbican for a long overdue coffee with silver surfer Jean, followed by a wet walk to Regents Park and a nice catch up with Charles in the Regent’s Bar & Kitchen. As afternoon turned into evening I walked via Chelsea to Hazel’s. I clocked up 15 miles all told on foot today.

Barbican Lakes
Barbican Lakes

A relaxing evening at Hazel’s indulging in Masterchef and Made in Chelsea – and a bottle of wine with healthy dinner.


TV: at home – Tick, Tick… Boom! (we only managed about 10 minutes) and Hip Hop Evolution; in WIV – various YouTube videos featuring Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf and Doctor Who (finished series 13); in SW11 – Masterchef (US version) and Made in Chelsea.

Podcasts: The Essay, Lingthusiasm and SheDunnit.


Photos: Herefordshire week 101 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2021-12-05.

Herefordshire Week 100: Tuesday 23 – Monday 29 November 2021

Wardrobe wrangling. Chutney cupboard reorganising. A cold snap. First frost, sleep and snow. Some nice walks.

SIX SQUIRRELS. SIX! EIGHT!!!!!!!

One hundred weeknotes.

Squirrel in the Yew Tree
Squirrel in the Yew Tree

Woke with a headache on Tuesday morning, so after Phil and I had driven to Ewyas Harold to post off this week’s three eBay sales, we set out on the Bacton Square for some fresh air. Cloudy and cold, so we wrapped up warm for the first time this autumn. Good to be outdoors.


VWW with H & R (good Picos Planning opportunity) but no Family Zoom. Internet behaving itself this week. Thanksgiving meant work a bit quieter this week. Nice winding down to year end.


Tuesday and Thursday were gorgeous blue sky days (and the army camp helicopters were busy) (as were the SQUIRRELS), and Friday morning was the same, so I ditched indoor / admin plans and, leaving Phil making bread…..

Phil's loaf - perfect timing for lunch.....
Phil’s loaf – perfect timing for lunch…..

… set out on the Cockyard Circuit, Quarrells Green first. Val phoned while I was out and we had a good long chat. Clouds loomed over Hatterall Ridge and double rainbows over the Golden Valley. Beautiful.

I got back just in time as from lunchtime we had showers and occasional heavy rain. Good weather for sorting out the spare room, decommissioning the tall narrow wardrobe and moving the oak bureau up in its place.  Made a batch of apple chutney in the afternoon – The Yellow One – and managed, eventually, a FaceTime with Jenny. Lots of catching up.

Four more jars of Apple Chutney - "The Yellow One" (it's spicy!)
Four more jars of Apple Chutney – “The Yellow One” (it’s spicy!)

Pizza and The Harder They Fall in the evening. We didn’t make it to the end.


Storm Arwen arrived overnight. Strong winds woke me up a few times – they’re noisy in themselves plus the bargeboards over the white wall rattle. The winds continued into the morning along with sleet flurries and grey clouds, so, with the log stove adding extra warmth to the house, I settled down to do some admin.

The morning’s greatest achievement, however, was moaneuvring (I know that’s a typo, but I like it) the tall cupboard downstairs, Freegle having delivered a taker in a matter of hours yesterday.

At many stages I was convinced we’d never get it out of the house – the size and weight of the thing, the tight angles of the old landing, the narrow stairs, the tricky corner turn at the bottom of the stairs, only 10cm or so clearance between the top of the cupboard and the dining room ceiling (so no tilting), the getting it back up into the staircase’s awkward bottom turn and angling the descent into the hall rather than the dining room…. I’m still amazed we managed it. And without damaging the new wooden floors! (I don’t know at what stage the floor will stop being new and precious. Probably when we damage it for the first time!)

High fives all round.

And then a grey and gusty drive into Ewyas for Phil to get his booster, a few tilting trees en route and one horizontal but helpfully from high up on a field bank. Back for lunch, with short but essential stops at Neil Powell’s (Pork Pie and eggs) and The Forge (milk).

A satisfying afternoon on the Grand Chutney Cupboard Reorganisation – chutneys (and jams, mincemeat and vinegars) are now distributed evenly between two kitchen cupboards. Then a pot of tea and a biscuit reading Katherine Langridge’s essays analysing the Narnia books she’d loved as a child after an adult reread. Excellent. She’s made me realise why I loved them too – strong female characters (absent Susan) and realistic child-centred narrative and characters – from feelings about death to attitudes to right, wrong and justice. What I’d not remotely fully appreciated were how often the plots, characters and scenes draw upon fairytales, myths and legends.

The tall cupboard collection went by without a hitch and we settled in for a cosy film night. Clear and cold outside.

Saturday night weather
Saturday night weather
Sunday morning weather
Sunday morning weather

Sunday morning was clear and cold – a beautiful morning for Tremorithic, footpath edition. A scattering of snow on Hatterall Ridge and Hay Bluff. Blue Skies. Green fields. Lots of sheep. A few buzzards. Hardly another soul out. Peaceful. 8 miles, 2 3/4 hours.

Spindle tree berries
Spindle tree berries
Kerrys Gate, Cockyard and the Malverns, from the footpath
Kerrys Gate, Cockyard and the Malverns
Buzzard in a tree
Buzzard in a tree
Hatterall Ridge and Hay Bluff - with a scattering of snow
Hatterall Ridge and Hay Bluff – with a scattering of snow

Light lunch, catch up with JC then over to Dinedor for a late afternoon Sunday lunch feast with dad and Jean.

Back to an evening should have been snoozing in front of the log stove but ended up being rejigging December travel plans to have a bit more time in Witham and rebooking Premier Inn for Picos – I realised I’d booked the wrong LGW hotel.

Another cold night.


With the log stove adding extra heat to the house, I spent Monday morning on admin, including reporting broken stiles and road holes to the council using FixMyStreet. Snaps to whoever set that up!

Quick lunch then out on the ride on mower for the final mow of the year and to pick up some of the leaves Storm Arwen kindly whipped off the trees. Collected storm-blown deadwood sticks and twigs to use as kindling too.

Inside as dusk settled in I finally got around to turning some of the endless windfalls into Nigel Slater’s apple and sultana pastries. No poppy seeds so I blitzed some of the Pembrokeshire Pecans and used those instead.

Apple and Sultana Pastries - Cooling off
Apple and Sultana Pastries – Cooling off

YUM! We had two each, just for quality control.

Gave the Christmas Cake its first feed and prepped the first crop of the Albutt’s Red Chillies to turn into It’s Not Complicated’s Preserved Chillies in Oil.

Then relaxed….


TV: The Billion Dollar Code (excellent if you like German dramas and remember the 1990s) plus The Harder They Fall  and The Rhythm Section.

Podcasts: History Extra, Lingthusiasm and The Allusionist.


Photos: Herefordshire week 100 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2021-11-28.

Herefordshire Week 099: Tuesday 16 – Monday 22 November 2021

Week 99. Gosh.

Cold and clear days. November is here.

A weekend in Westbury. Dad ‘n’ daught DIY.

DIY with Dad - Turning old decking into a planter for the sage bush
DIY with Dad – Turning old decking into a planter for the sage bush

Tuesday = weeknotes, a walk down to the Abbey and back with Phil, and an early start to my working week so that I could finish up at 4.45pm. That gave me 45 mins to drive to Ewyas Harold, post my eBayed crockery, and get my COVID booster jab.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

AND I sussed out how two pieces of string could provide The Ultimate Saucepan Lid Storage Solution!

String Saucepan Lid Storage Solution
String Saucepan Lid Storage Solution

AND booked Phil and me into a weekend course with Chainsaw Sam in Jan.


Our Internet went on a go slow on Wednesday so I decamped to dad and Jean’s. Lifesavers. We ended up cancelling VWW and although the internet was fine during the day on Thursday it had another glitch in the early evening which put paid to Family Zoom.


Dropped off apples, chutney and mincmeat with T&J first thing on Friday (meeting J’s mum setting out with her metal detector) before heading over to Winchester for a morning of Dad & Daughter DIY. We had a lovely time ticking off two things on The List:

  1. Repair the broken wooden tray leg
  2. Make a worktop to go on top of my filing cabinet now it’s sitting more snugly between the wardrobe and the wall.

It turns out that the tray is one of many old Cadbury Marshmallow manufacturing trays dad got from work. I’m seeing the small stools he made for me and Tom (curved seats) and my Dolls House (roof base) in a completely new light.

DIY done, I got treated to an excellent pub lunch out with dad and Jean with my first visit to The Bunch of Carrots. VG.

Back home to set up the worktop. A PERFECT FIT:

Dad 'n' Daught DIY - Filing Cabinet Worktop
Dad ‘n’ Daught DIY – Filing Cabinet Worktop

The (late) afternoon’s main achievement was moving more stuff up into the loft, and tidying up the spare room. At Last.


I spent the weekend down in Westbury visiting C. We had a good time – went into Bath, had a potter around then settled in a pub for a late lunch and some pints. I had to put the COVID risk to the back of my mind – the train was packed and I only saw 2 other people wearing masks. The pub was very busy too. Urgh.

Fab drive there and back in the MX-5 though. The Wye Valley down to Tintern was gorgeous with the trees in their autumn splendour. And I spotted the Sex Education convenience store.

Lounged around in the sun-warmed conservatory for Sunday afternoon. Recuperating.


Dad came over on Monday for the last of the initial trio of To Dos: turning old decking from the Garden Railway Line into a planter for the sage bush. A beautiful sunny day, and a very satisfying morning for us both.

We also hatched a plan to turn some of the surplus loft boarding into shelves, which we’ll do once I’ve got some wall brackets.

After lunch I headed out to do the Cockyard Circuit. Glorious sunshine. Bright blue skies, green fields and warm russet leafed trees.

Autumn Colours on the Cockyard Circuit
Autumn Colours on the Cockyard Circuit

Should have taken my camera. The one on my iPhone doesn’t do justice to the beautiful colours.

Packed up more eBay crockery sales in the late afternoon, then sorted out flights and pre-flight hotel for Picos 2022. That plan feels like it’s come together all too easily!!


TV: Mainly the excellent Money Heist (season 1), a bit of Master of None, trying out On the Verge (meh) plus Doctor Who and Bloodlands (Phil needs to catch up).

Podcasts: History Extra, In Our Time and Lingthusiasm (earlier episodes much more interesting than the latest one I’d sampled initially).


Photos: Herefordshire week 99 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2021-11-21.

 

Herefordshire Week 098: Tuesday 09 – Monday 15 November 2021

Getting Things Done. Tyre trauma. Fish & chips. Apples and Cake.

Apple Picking in the Orchard
Apple Picking in the Orchard

Busy morning Tuesday, doing the Duffryn Loop and having a nice chat with P from near the farm, watching a hawk chase a buzzard and exchanging phone numbers; getting the first batch of Stuff up into the loft – mainly empty boxes and “Treasures” stored in my Office. Having hauled them up there, I think the Treasures are due for a cull. We have a bat in residence too. The mouse poo turned out to be bat poo.

Work and VWW, but not Family Zoom as dad and Jean were at the Remembrance Day Service at the Abbey. I find the “required” commemorations – 2 minutes silence, poppy-wearing – difficult. Remembrance, yes; glorifying war and nostalgia for power, no.


Friday was overcast, but Phil and I got a lot of To Dos ticked off: we took a boot-load to the recycling centre (which I realise I still refer to as The Tip, which it isn’t), bought some leather walking boots (me) / did the food shop (Phil) and paid a visit to B&Q, Dunelm and Halfords.

Late lunch, and a total blank as to how I spent the afternoon.

We had T&J round for fish & chips in the evening. Got the log stove going. Lovely.


Sunny Saturday, perfect for taking the MX-5 out for a spin and Jean to lunch in Ledbury. A lovely morning, although I did almost run out of petrol on the way home… I just made it to Locks Garage on fumes.

Back at base I spent the rest of the daylight picking windfalls from the Golden Delicious apple tree in the Orchard, which I shall remember is the one that fruits late and long, and planting out Aunty Carriage’s red camellia, which dad and Jean brought from Dinedor. It’s now sitting on the willow tree hump.

With darkness falling around 4.30pm, indoor jobs included catching up on email, making yoghurt and straining the Apple Cider Vinegar into old gin bottles. I’m not convinced I’ll be confident about using it as there were traces of mould and the vinegar is a bit cloudy. We’ll see.


Gorgeous morning on Sunday. Perfect for the Cockyard Circuit.

Fields, Camp Wood
Fields, Camp Wood

And for picking the last (almost) of the orchard apples – goodness knows what we’ll do with them all. The Apple Racks are almost full (Monday: and now are!)

Apples continued: This is about half of the day's haul
Apples continued: This is about half of the day’s haul

I planted out the second of the Dinedor donations – a hydrangea – which is now settling into its new home inside the old garden railway line near the small pond.

In less good news, whilst toing and froing from the Orchard I spotted what I thought was a hawthorn spike coming out of one of my New Tyres. Turned out to be a nail. Urgh. I started investigating the “We come to replace your tyres at your house” options as I really didn’t fancy getting a blow out driving into Hereford.


Monday was designated Christmas Cake Making Day. Delia’s Rich Fruit Cake recipe always does the job. And I always burn the top.

Christmas Cake Making Day
Christmas Cake Making Day

Dad came round mid morning to size up some of the DIY projects he and I are planning – repairing one of the old Cadbury wooden trays which is missing a foot, making a shelf to sit on top of my filing cabinet, and turning more of the old decking / railway into a planter for the sage bush.

He also took a Dad-Look at the nail and we agreed our neighbours would know more. And so it proved: C suggested taking the wheel off so that Phil and I could drive it to his preferred tyre place in town for them to look at, which he and we did. And even luckier, Bernie Jones of Bernie Jones Tyres was able to pull the wire (not nail) out and there’s no puncture. What could have been a new tyre plus call out fee turned out to be an opportunity to get to know people and places that bit better. Karma.

BJT are right next to General Dogsbody, so we bought new bags of seeds and nuts for the birds. Since Phil mended the hole in the wire mesh they’re not getting through the peanuts at quite the same rate.

Spent the early evening packing up the white china I’d sold on eBay. Such a faff packing fragile things and inevitably none of the hoarded cardboard boxes were quite the right size. I’ve still got some pieces unsold so if you want some lovely plates, bowls and cups & saucers drop me a line!


I’m getting my COVID booster tomorrow. I’d looked online on Sunday but the Hereford vaccination centre didn’t show up at all (presumably nothing available) and the nearest ones – Forest of Dean and Malvern, so not that close – were booking for late Nov / early Dec. Monday was jab 2 + 181 days and when I phoned the surgery they eventually managed to fit me in. I really want the booster plus a few weeks before my visit to the London office and our week with family / friends / holiday in WTM, WIV and WON.


I do wonder how long this mild spell will last…. A bit of me is waiting for a serious cold snap to balance it all out. We have a lot of red berries this year.

Red Holly Berries
Red Holly Berries

I spotted the first daffodil shoots too, in the planter outside the porch. Hope they’re not venturing forth too soon.


TV: The Last Dance, Master of None, Rocks, Doctor WhoWhat We Do In The Shadows (series 3). And Money Heist (season 1) – how could I forget Money Heist?!

Podcasts: History Extra.


Photos: Herefordshire week 98 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2021-11-14.