An unusal experience!

Yesterday we went to St. Albans and had lunch at the Waterend Barn with Tania and Robert, and caught up with their news before getting shopping as usual and going home. It is lovely to see the countryside greening up again.

In the evening we watched another excellent episode of Wallander, while we could hear the rain pounding down outside.

Today when we woke up we found the cat asleep on the bed. As soon as he woke up he began meowing and looking under the bed in such a way that we realised he must have bought a mouse upstairs! We took off all the bedclothes and mattress, and Mas began unscrewing the bed as it can be separated into halves.

The cat was overjoyed and purring as he thought we were joining in the game with him.
Elbowing him aside, Mas lifted up half of the bed, and the mouse ran into a corner. I tried to catch him, but he ran up the inside of my trouser leg! I did a quick tap dance, and it came out. We immediately realised it was no mouse, but a rat! I threw a towel over him and caught it where he struggled in a muscular way.

Mas then asked what I was going to do next and I said put it outside. We thought we would put it into a container while considering various options; Mas thought if it went into the garden we may get it back again. Luckily we tried to do this outside, because he wriggled free and escaped!

To add insult to injury the computers would not work, so Mas spent all day trying to sort them out. In the evening we watched a Lewis, and Lost Kingdoms of Africa which was interesting.

A few feasts

Yesterday we went to Borehamwood for some shopping and then went to out usual fish and chips cafe. We had a tasty lunch there, and our friendly waitress told us that her pet white ferret had run away, and now she has a little big cat, looking a bit puzzled she explained that it was young and little, but would grow into a very large cat.
As we were leaving she bought us a huge cooked cold fish that she had carefully wrapped up for Salty. Salty feasted on this for two days, and sent prayers of thankfulness up to cat heaven at each meal.

Today we went up to St. Albans and met Robert in the Waterend Barn, which is another excellent J. D. Weatherspoon pub. Tania joined us before long, and we had a nice chatty lunch during which I had two glasses of red wine. Later Mas drove us home as I was feeling vertiginous despite taking the new medication for it, and had a bad sore throat too. Once home I felt rather peculiar so rested and read for a while. Later I found that I should not drink alcohol while taking the medication, so drank lots of water in the hope that I would soon feel better.

Pub grub and fresh fruit

Mas and I went shopping, then had lunch at the Man in the Moon. The pub was full of cheerful people, but emptied out as lunch time passed. We had a nice but unremarkable day just gardening, reading and doing things around the house.

On Saturday we drove up to St. Albans, got most of our vegetable shopping and met Tania and Robert at the Waterend Barn. We talked for a long time and I found myself very sleepy, no doubt due to the fact that I had woken up at 5.15am.

As we were leaving the market, later than usual, the stall holders were packing up. One stall was offering bananas at £1.00 a carrier bag full, so we bought some and when we got home Mas took some of the bananas over to Poppy and Ben. I spent some time blending strawberries and then freezing the surplus.

We had a light dinner and watched a video before bedtime.

A foggy day and a fluffy sweater

Today we woke up to a foggy morning, and after breakfast let Salty out into the garden by himself for a short time.

We then drove carefully through the mysterious foggy landscape to St. Albans where we met Tania and Robert. For a change we went to the Waterend Barn; we had not been there for a long time, and Tania was hoping they would have a nice open fire going. This barn was originally built in 1610, but is now a restaurant and bar. We had a nice meal, but the fire was not lit!

Below is a corner of the ladies lounge where they can repair their makeup and share secrets.

Tania and Robert gave me a lovely angora sweater and card as a late birthday present , and Tania had knitted a hat for me too!

We got our groceries and drove home safely. We watched a 'Pie in the Sky' episode, and later a gruesome 'The Bill'.