Finding Beneficent Law

On Sunday morning we sprang out of bed (or we would have, if our springs had not already sprung), had breakfast, put on tidy cloths, and prepared to go off to the art show in Chelsea. At the last moment, I looked at out tickets again, and realized we were a week ahead of ourselves; the art show is next week! As we had our neat going outdoors cloths on, we decided to go for a pub lunch, so we went off to the Man in the Moon and had a feast.


On the way back we bought some strawberry plants and a black currant bush. Now I have to find a few inches of space to squeeze them into our garden. In the evening we watched another episode of Lewis.


Today I managed to find places for the fruit plants, and it was a pleasure doing this as the weather is so nice.

I had been thinking of making a will recently, and called in to a local solicitors office previously, to find out how much this might cost, and was quoted a price of £500.00 for a simple will. I did not make an appointment as I thought that I could write my own will.

I began researching how to do this on line, looking at various government sites and will writing services. By luck I found http://www.beneficentlaw.co.uk . Beneficent Law is a community interest company and a "not for profit, for good" legal service that deals with wills and probate. They have fixed fee charges, and a single will, which they write, costs just £25.00! I had various queries, and got replies to all these and lots of good advice, and service that was kind and efficient. The whole process took about a week, with them telling me what to do at each step of the way. Now it is done I feel very relieved; it had been on my 'to do' list for a long time, and now that it is done I do not have to think about it again. I cannot recommend their service enough, and it is so unusual to deal with such nice people.

A very tasty treat.

Yesterday the weather was nice enough for us to go into the garden and have tea on our swing for the first time this year. While we were doing this Salty unexpectedly jumped onto the canopy which made Mas jump violently and throw most of the tea over the garden which made me laugh a lot. Mas could startle for the Olympics!


Later I planted out the geraniums into our window boxes, watering them in afterwards.


This morning we found a small dead mouse in the hall which we disposed of before breakfast.


Later we travelled down to Leicester Square, and then walked to the National Portrait Gallery. We were going to have lunch at the restaurant there; this was a present from Romy and Toby which we had been looking forward to. We had several drinks and a three course meal with another bottle of wine while looking out of the window at this London view.




























The restaurant was full, but we took our time and really enjoyed the meal. We were so full that on the way home we both fell asleep on the tube. It is a good thing that our stop is at the end of the line!

A Winter Wonderland day out

This morning I took a few small presents next door to Glen and Barry's.
Tania and Robert arrived about 2.30pm, and we walked to the station leaving Mas working contentedly at home. We tubed to Green Park, and then walked to Hyde Park where the Winter Wonderland had been set up. While the moose head below was speaking at some length in German, Tania found out that her friends would be arriving later, so we decided to get something to eat first.

Tania wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Park Lane, and so we did.

Entrance to the Hard Rock Cafe.

As we went in, we were told we would have to wait some time before there was a free table, but we had a drink, and the time soon passed. It was very busy and crowded. Eventually we were served by a very friendly, but incredibly loud Spanish waitress, no doubt she had to train her voice to be heard above the rock music.

We returned to the Winter Wonderland afterwards.

And before long we met up with Tania and Robert's friends, and had some mulled wine and chatted. I was shocked to hear later that Robert's friend was going to do his yearly Christmas swim in the Serpentine river tomorrow, despite there still being snow on the ground!

Haunted House

There were lots of people with their children enjoying the lights and rides.

As it began to get very cold and time for the children to leave, Tania, Robert and I walked back to the Station and then home to Stanmore. When we did get home, walking carefully on the slippery ice, we found Mas had cooked a very tasty Christmas Eve feast, which we all enjoyed.

A lunch time feast with friends and visit from Pete

On Monday I heard from Poppy and Florence, and I tried to paint the right kind of skeleton face for Peter, but somehow he turned out too sinister. Mas went to the doctors with a list of things to discuss with him; it is hard to get an appointment so it is important not to miss anything. Despite the list Mas forgot to mention the most important thing, his hurting arm and leg, so another appointment will have to be made. I suggested it would be useful to give the list to the doctor in case anything was missed again.

On Tuesday we were invited by John and Margaret for lunch. Christiane and Eddie were invited too, having returned from France, and it was nice to see everyone. Margaret had prepared a really lovely lunch, lovely to look at as it was so well presented, and very tasty as lots of the vegetables were home grown. For dessert a colourful display of seven kinds of fruit were put in front of us, and there was a home made apple pie too. A variety of different cheeses were served with the coffee. We were very touched at how much thought and effort had gone into this meal, especially as it had only been arranged the evening before! Mason and I will obviously have to pull our socks up in the entertainment area!

Pete arrived around four as planned, and we spent a long time sitting in the conservatory which was warm and bright despite it being a rainy day as usual and talking and drinking tea. Mas showed Pete some of my pictures which have been framed, and look much improved by exactly the right framing and mounting; it seems to me that the framing is just as important as the picture in making the end result.

We had a leisurely dinner and lurked around for a while before going off to bed rather early as we were all a bit tired.

Springy feet in St. Albans, shopping and Sasio's

Today we woke up to a foggy day with temperatures of 3° and feeling chilly. Robert and Tania could not meet us for lunch as Robert seems to be suffering from the same illness Mas had over Christmas.

We went to St. Albans and did a little shopping, and as we walked through the market we saw these springy feet extensions being demonstrated. I have seen them in a TV advert, but did not know that they were available to buy. I would have liked to try them, but in a secluded place, as I am sure I would fall on my head with terrific loss of dignity. Supposedly they are good for toning up muscles.

As usual, click to enlarge.

There is a good art shop in this arcade, and I was looking at fabric paint (thinking of shopping bags). The arcade looked warm and cheerful compared to the grey streets outside.

We snuck in to Sasio's and had a nice lunch, and Mas charmed five extra almond cookies from the friendly waitress to have with the coffee. We left feeling really warm.

Neolithic remains and friendship

Pete and I took the bus then walked along the coast for hours, and through a nature reserve where we saw some butterflies called Baby Blues locally. We stopped at a kiosk and had tea and chips, and I had cheese with them too.














We reached Lancresse common which has a golf course and some neolithic remains, one called La Varde which is a passage grave, and Les Fouillages which dates back to about 4000BC and is possibly the oldest remaining manmade structure in Europe as indicated by pottery found at the site. There is also a rock called La Roche qui Sonne for no obvious reason as the site has been dismantled and stones removed, but it is said that there was a hollow stone which when struck made a sound that carried for a considerable distance.














Les Fouaillages



















La Varde passage grave





























In the evening we met Poppy and Ben and went to the Bella Luce Hotel for another tennerfest meal which was very good, and the company even better.