Surrey Villages . . .

Another super day off today. I went for walk with a friend around some really pretty villages in Surrey. So picturesque I couldn't resist taking a few photos.

How could anyone resist this idyllic scene at Shere?

The mill stream which runs under Gomshall Mill

And the entrance . . . They obviously don't take any prisoners!

Pretty houses and gardens everywhere . . .

And of course lovely old churches too . . . This one at Shere.

And back to Abinger Hammer where we started . . .

We stopped at one of my favourite haunts for re-fuelling of the edible kind - delicious toasted teacakes dripping with butter - definitely not a day for watching the calories!

A Coal Hole and Carousel !

Very pleased that the frosty weather didn't stop us having a good night out with friends at the theatre last night.

The coach driver made very good time so we were able to spend a pleasant hour before the show in a nearby 'hostelry'. Very aptly named, The Coal Hole, was just the ticket.

The show Carousel was also very good; we recognised the songs but all of us agreed that we had no idea the song, 'You'll Never Walk Alone' originated from this Rogers and Hammerstein show. I'll never be able to watch a Liverpool football match again without thinking of Carousel!

An evening out ...

We had another great evening out with friends on Friday. We went to a local Indian restaurant with a deservedly good reputation, The Indus. None of us had far to drive and we were even able to walk the house of our friends who lives very near. They kindly invited us to aperitifs there beforehand and coffee and liqueurs afterwards.

All the ingredients for an excellent evening - good food ... good company .... and a few laughs too!

By the way, no sign of the 'credit crunch' in this part of the world - the restaurant was packed and there were people waiting for tables!

What are friends for ...

Friends are marvellous aren't they? We all need at least one friend in life; someone to laugh and cry with; someone to go shopping and have coffee with!! and of course someone to share germs with!!

There are an awful lot of nasty 'bugs' around at the moment and I think one of my dear friends inadvertently took this 'sharing' idea a bit far and I succumbed yesterday. But ... I 'took to my bed' (I don't really need much excuse to do that!) in the afternoon yesterday and woke this morning feeling much better. As well as friends, I think sleep is also pretty fantastic too.

Besides, we're all going out for a meal to a very good Indian Restaurant tonight so I have to be better, don't I?

Le Touquet

We had a very good weekend in Le Touquet. It really was a bit like I had imagined with definite signs of the influence of earlier British tourists to be seen in various things such as names of streets and styles of architecture. Our hotel was the Hotel Bristol for example.

We had a good journey down to Folkestone, under an hour and plenty of time for coffee beforehand. We had a slight hitch as you can see from the first photo as our shuttle was delayed over an hour and we spent that time in the car in the queue waiting to board and looking out at this sign!

Here's our hotel - and very comfortable it was too with excellent staff; friendly and professional.

This is the covered market not far from our hotel. Unfortunately the market was finished by the time we arrived but a pretty building, don't you think?

The picture taken in the evening makes it look like a bustling city but it was very quiet and in our walk around in the afternoon, the streets were almost empty.

Lots and lots - and even more - restaurants, bars, patisseries, chocolatiers etc. Heaven for anyone who enjoys good food. We managed to squeeze in a visit to a bar for lunch, a different bar for a quick coffee and a lovely restaurant for dinner. Not bad when you think we didn't get there until about 3pm! Also lots of other good shops.

This merry-go-round was at the seafront. We all decided we must go back and spend a bit more time there next time. Definitely worth a second visit

We're off for a little outing tomorrow ....

Yes, we're off for a little trip to France tomorrow with some very good friends. Just staying overnight but it'll be a lovely break, I'm sure. Something about the name of the place - Le Touquet - conjures up all sorts of delightful images.

It makes me think of the 'idle rich' sauntering around this little French sea-side town in the 1920's with nothing more to worry about than where their next cocktail was coming from!

We can but dream! It'll be nice to play the part for a few hours, anyway! Will let you know how we got on once we get back.

Friends ...

We spent a lovely evening with some friends we've known for over 20 years this evening. We were neighbours when we met and both families having young children spent a lot of time together, especially the mums and the children as the dads, as usual, were very busy at work.

As is the way of things, as the children got older and we moved a couple of miles away we found that we didn't see as much of each other. But the great thing about really good friends is that you can meet up with each other only occasionally and just take up where you left off!

We probably only see each other two or three times a year nowadays, especially since our children have grown up but we easily slip into that old familiar relationship we had years ago.

I think that's a good test of friendship and I reckon we passed that test this evening with flying colours!

Friends ...

We've had a busy weekend! On Saturday evening S got back from a week's holiday in Prague and is spending a week at home before going back to Manchester which is great. On Sunday morning A got back from a business trip to Montenegro and in the afternoon some of S's friends came down from London.

We had a lovely afternoon and evening and ended up playing games together before the young people sadly had to leave to get back to London.

It's great to be in the company of lively young people, they seem somehow to invigorate the rest of us and their enthusiams for life rubs off on us, more careworn 'oldies'.

It's good to see too that old fashioned board games are still popular with all generations and hopefully there'll always be a place for them alongside the computer games, TV, DVDs, iPod and whatever is to come in the future. It added to the fun that a lot of the questions in the game referred to people who were famous, and events that happened before the youngsters were even born!