Sunday, August 19, 2007

"I do it for you"

Mrs C and I are recovering from a busy week and even busier
past few days with various family members staying with us.
It was lovely seeing them all, and we felt a bit sad when
they set off for their own homes today. The house does feel
a lot emptier with just the two of us (and a couple of cats)
inside it. When I say "busier", we both were very busy ...
felt as if we were running a small hotel at times - shopping,
cooking, clearing away and washing up, and making beds up,
etc, etc .. a daily routine that hotel staff would be used to.

We went to see the Major Oak in the middle of Sherwood Forest
yesterday morning, which looked the same as the last time we
saw it (about 4-5 years ago), not surprisingly. Some of the
staff were dressed up in medieval dress, and there was an
archery demonstration in progress nearby the tree ... we didn't
stay for a try out ourselves, as there was a long queue of
people waiting to have a go, and it was just starting to rain.

Instead of visiting Newstead Abbey on the way back, we stopped
off at another tourist attraction -- Sainsbury's in Arnold, to
pick up some fresh fish and some veg for tea -- we marinaded
the cod fillets with fresh rosemary and a little olive oil, and
later cooked it on top of the roasted veg (with additional
garlic cloves and mushrooms)... one of Jamie Oliver's recipes
... delicious.

Later on in the day, we watched Kevin Costner in the Robin Hood
film which was on the telly, much to our surprise -- what a
coincidence. At times I was irritated by Costner's American accent,
but overall I enjoyed it, especially seeing Alan Rickman again, as
the evil Sheriff of Nottingham - a brilliant performance.

Do any of you remember Bryan Adams singing his heart out in
"Everything I do, I do it for you"? A wonderful song, which still
brings to tear to my eye when I hear it. I also remember a lovely
family summer holiday in 1991, when we stayed on the south coast at
Bournemouth (and toured around in our car from there)... driving
along sunlit and tree-lined avenues in Bournemouth, and hearing
Bryan singing on our car radio. Wonderful memories. It's interesting
how hearing a song can take you straight back to a lovely time in
the past -- and a time when everyone in the car sang the words
together: "And I do it for you!"

Today we re-visited Wollaton Hall in Nottingham for a look around
the improved new interior and the renovated camelia house round
the back of the hall. The formal flower borders were ablaze with
colour, despite the showery rain which got worse during our visit.
We made some pizzas for the evening meal, with our usual veg &
cheesy topping (plus a few anchovies and olives on top)...mmmm.



Poor old tree -- permanently on crutches. What a life.

2 Comments:

Blogger AngelConradie said...

i do love your pictures justin, that tree is quite amazing!
so is it nice to have a break fter your full house?

8:46 pm  
Blogger justin said...

Thanks for your comment, Angel.
I'll have to start posting a few more.
Yes, it's good in a way, to be able to relax and do very little, but I miss their company of course.

7:10 am  

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