Catching up with friends and mud walking.

Jana, Monika, Olga and children, Milan and Radovan arrived in the morning. We have not seen each other for a while so there was a lot of chatting to catch up on. Jana had been on a short holiday to Spain and bought some wine, a huge spanish pineapple and a large box of coconut cakes she had made at Monika's which were delicious. Little Radovan is sweet; this was the first time we had seen him as he is about ten weeks old.

All too soon Monika and Olga had to leave ,and go home with the children.

The weather was grey, windy and raining from time to time. Jana and I set off for our planned walk. From Elstree we squelched across the sodden fields, then as it began to rain heavily we went into the Waggon and Horses and had a coffee sitting in front of the fire. It is a very cozy pub, and was built in the 15th centuary. We talked for a long time until the rain became lighter, and we left. We crossed the road and walked across the fields for hours, still talking. Eventually we came across Battlers Green Farm.

The fire at the Waggon and Horses Pub

The farmyard is now a horseshoe shaped area with shops of various kinds, including a farmers' produce shop. Luckily the cafe was still open and we had a very strong and aromatic pot of coffee and warmed up. When we were leaving the waiter remarked that we must have really needed the coffee as we looked so wet and bedraggled.

Battlers green Farm

We walked back through Letchmore Heath, Jana pointing out my favourite house, then headed off to Elstree across fields and through woods. We were trying to get home by 7.00pm as Mas would be making a meal for us, also it was getting dark. This is the most dreary weather we had walked in, and somehow we had walked further than we usually do which is odd when all the fields and woods were so waterlogged.

We arrived home around 7.00pm. We sat in front of the fire, Jana stretching out to dry her rolled up trousers. We both had mud plastered up our legs to well past our knees, and we talked with Mas while we waited for Oktay to arrive. Eventually we went and had dinner as we thought he must have got held up. Mas had made a really tasty turkey dinner which we soon made short work of, and we had a glass of red wine with it.

There had been a muddle with communications, so Oktay had already eaten by the time he arrived. We sat in front of the fire and chatted till we all became really tired, and Oktay and Jana went home to Monikas, and we were sad to see them go.

It had been a very nice and eventful day. It is a shame we do not all live closer to each other.