Semper aliquid novi
Nov. 7th, 2013 10:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustIt's been a busy week.
Last night we had the long-awaited pleasure of a visit from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
desperance and klwilliams, and there was eating and drinking and talking and sitting up way too late. This morning there were the pleasures of guests the morning after, with leisurely breakfast and going into town to see the cathedral - looking as splendid as ever, low sideways light sharpening all the verticals.
Tuesday evening was less fun: the residents' association meeting, which I find hard work: worth doing but often depressing.
Which is why it has taken me until now to write about Sunday's outing to Beamish: it was a day of sunshine and strong wind, too bright not to go out, too blowy to go anywhere exposed, so Beamish seemed like the right sort of destination. There's always something new to see there. I had misremembered something, and gained the impression that the church would now be open, which wasn't the case. On the other hand, the redcoats came as a complete surprise:
"The year is 1814. Napoleon has been defeated, but we are still at war with America, so we are looking for young men to join the Durham Light Infantry..." There was much preparing to fire, and a fair amount of firing, and after a while we left them to it and went off to nose around the engine shed, where Puffing Billy was being prepared for the day's work. Over to Pockerley Farm, where the woman were making apple pastries, then back to the railway to see Puffing Billy emerge and trundle down the line in a great cloud of steam and gunsmoke.
By now we were beginning to think about lunch, so we headed down through the autumn woods to the pit village and the fish and chip shop. Even on this last day of the season there was a queue, though nothing like the hour's wait you get in the summer. The family being served immediately before us made up for that by re-enacting the stateroom scene from A Night At The Opera:
But the highlight of the day came after lunch. We were on our way to the town, and noticed that the stores were open on a drop-in basis. So we went in, and discovered that one of the museum's new acquisitions was in fact an old friend:
There, right in the middle, was our washing machine.
There was a train in steam at the station, and the staff at the sweet shop were making cinder toffee: there's a spectacular moment when he poured the bicarb into the vat in which I couldn't quite see the caramel, and the mixture frothed up to double, treble the quantity, more, and almost over the brim... The new bakery was open, too. But we'd had all the excitement we needed for one day, and came home.
Last night we had the long-awaited pleasure of a visit from
desperance and klwilliams, and there was eating and drinking and talking and sitting up way too late. This morning there were the pleasures of guests the morning after, with leisurely breakfast and going into town to see the cathedral - looking as splendid as ever, low sideways light sharpening all the verticals.Tuesday evening was less fun: the residents' association meeting, which I find hard work: worth doing but often depressing.
Which is why it has taken me until now to write about Sunday's outing to Beamish: it was a day of sunshine and strong wind, too bright not to go out, too blowy to go anywhere exposed, so Beamish seemed like the right sort of destination. There's always something new to see there. I had misremembered something, and gained the impression that the church would now be open, which wasn't the case. On the other hand, the redcoats came as a complete surprise:
"The year is 1814. Napoleon has been defeated, but we are still at war with America, so we are looking for young men to join the Durham Light Infantry..." There was much preparing to fire, and a fair amount of firing, and after a while we left them to it and went off to nose around the engine shed, where Puffing Billy was being prepared for the day's work. Over to Pockerley Farm, where the woman were making apple pastries, then back to the railway to see Puffing Billy emerge and trundle down the line in a great cloud of steam and gunsmoke.
By now we were beginning to think about lunch, so we headed down through the autumn woods to the pit village and the fish and chip shop. Even on this last day of the season there was a queue, though nothing like the hour's wait you get in the summer. The family being served immediately before us made up for that by re-enacting the stateroom scene from A Night At The Opera:
Two fish and chips and two chips.So the wait never got boring.
And four cups of tea.
And another fish and chips, and two dab and chips (a 'dab' is a half piece of fish).
And a bottle of lemonade.
And two cups of tea.
Yes, that's in addition to the four cups of tea.
And could we have one of the dab and chips with the dab wrapped separately from the chips...
But the highlight of the day came after lunch. We were on our way to the town, and noticed that the stores were open on a drop-in basis. So we went in, and discovered that one of the museum's new acquisitions was in fact an old friend:
There, right in the middle, was our washing machine.
There was a train in steam at the station, and the staff at the sweet shop were making cinder toffee: there's a spectacular moment when he poured the bicarb into the vat in which I couldn't quite see the caramel, and the mixture frothed up to double, treble the quantity, more, and almost over the brim... The new bakery was open, too. But we'd had all the excitement we needed for one day, and came home.
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no subject
Date: 2013-11-08 01:35 am (UTC)You must be so very proud. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2013-11-08 11:02 am (UTC)Can you tell?
no subject
Date: 2013-11-08 08:14 am (UTC)We didn't get as far as Blists Hill on this latest trip to Shropshire, but if you haven't been, I'd recommend- Victorian black country industrial town complete with the amazing Hay inclined plane boat lift.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-08 11:03 am (UTC)