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Visitors - Shopping - Visitors
Apr. 14th, 2010 10:34 pmWe had weekend visitors, and had a splendid time sitting around chatting, and showing them the sights, and more sitting around. The sights were mainly in Sunderland, and started out at the Winter Gardens, which I had not previously visited in the spring - there were flowers among the foliage, and the bananas were in bloom. We wandered through the glass and ceramic collections at the museum, where a photograph sent us off in search of the Elephant Tea Rooms:
all of a block and a half away, decorated with elephants (because tea was sold there. Well, obviously) and I don't think I'd ever seen it before... Then on to the coast, Saint Peter's church (where, as last time we were visited, we were pounced on by volunteers and shown round in a helpful but slightly overwhelming way) and a tea break at the Glass Centre. Then home, to dinner and Doctor Who.
We took Sunday more gently, spent the morning wrangling with the crossword and went out in the afternoon to the Botanic Gardens - where all sorts of things were breaking into flower (many but not all of them daffodils) and all had to be admired, and almost all photographed (by all four of us, from a variety of angles).
Our weekend guests left on Monday morning, and we spent the rest of the day working. On Tuesday, since we were expecting D. for an overnight, we needed to do a little emergency shopping (D. food - oranges and white ice cream).![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
durham_rambler made the inspired suggestion that we go to Lidl in Langley Moor, and visit the nearby antique shop in search of kitchen chairs. By a fluke, the shop was open, and had a set of four rush-seated chairs which I think will suit us very well.
And Lidl lived up to all the descriptions, and provided us with a random selection of foodstuffs: oranges and white ice cream, but also unwaxed lemons and speck and a couple of bottles of wine. The wine department was just odd: premier cru Chablis sat next to Dornfelder (German red wine from the Moselle) above the ice cream cabinets where the heat from the refrigeration units met the warmth of the lighting ("I don't suppose it stays there long enough to take much harm," says D.) My mother would have loved it.
And D. arrived, and we opened a couple of bottles (not from our Lidl haul), including a St Emilion which we actually decanted (was this necessary? I don't know. It was lovely, velvety smooth without being rich, but how do I know what it would have been like without decanting?) and had a very pleasant evening.
all of a block and a half away, decorated with elephants (because tea was sold there. Well, obviously) and I don't think I'd ever seen it before... Then on to the coast, Saint Peter's church (where, as last time we were visited, we were pounced on by volunteers and shown round in a helpful but slightly overwhelming way) and a tea break at the Glass Centre. Then home, to dinner and Doctor Who.
We took Sunday more gently, spent the morning wrangling with the crossword and went out in the afternoon to the Botanic Gardens - where all sorts of things were breaking into flower (many but not all of them daffodils) and all had to be admired, and almost all photographed (by all four of us, from a variety of angles).
Our weekend guests left on Monday morning, and we spent the rest of the day working. On Tuesday, since we were expecting D. for an overnight, we needed to do a little emergency shopping (D. food - oranges and white ice cream).
durham_rambler made the inspired suggestion that we go to Lidl in Langley Moor, and visit the nearby antique shop in search of kitchen chairs. By a fluke, the shop was open, and had a set of four rush-seated chairs which I think will suit us very well. And Lidl lived up to all the descriptions, and provided us with a random selection of foodstuffs: oranges and white ice cream, but also unwaxed lemons and speck and a couple of bottles of wine. The wine department was just odd: premier cru Chablis sat next to Dornfelder (German red wine from the Moselle) above the ice cream cabinets where the heat from the refrigeration units met the warmth of the lighting ("I don't suppose it stays there long enough to take much harm," says D.) My mother would have loved it.
And D. arrived, and we opened a couple of bottles (not from our Lidl haul), including a St Emilion which we actually decanted (was this necessary? I don't know. It was lovely, velvety smooth without being rich, but how do I know what it would have been like without decanting?) and had a very pleasant evening.
