A month in the UK

First Tuesday walk after getting home and breakfast in Barnt Green with Keith J and John

We've now been back from Canada for a calendar month. Today is the third day we've had with nothing on the calendar, not that we did nothing on the other two, the garden has taken quite a lot of tidying, the house needs cleaning and shopping has to be done. It's the first chance I've had to go and look for new summer clothes to take to Australia (probably our next trip), only to find that it's the very end of the sales and that the shops are full of muddy coloured slightly autumnal clothes.

We really have been stupidly busy, body maintenance, physio for my knee was already booked, fortunately, so she could help me with my ankle, mammogram and new glasses which has taken many visits and about 5 sets of new lenses for me. I also spent a day just north of Bristol being MRI'd, scanned and assessed by UK Biobank, as I was three years ago. For him a colonoscopy, a punch biopsy on something on his nose, with a trip to the doctor's for his feet and the physio for his shoulder, which is still giving him gyp after falling in Calgary, booked.

Its been very hot weather in the UK this year as you can see by the brown golf course as we walked across it 

We've had curry with Helen and Ian, Abi, Monday club and had kurzi lamb twice. Once with Fiona and James, and once with Bev and Iain. We've walked with John and Brian which has obviously involved drinking lots of beer - well it has been stupidly hot, this has actually put me off drinking too much! We've had Monday club drinks and Sunday club drinks. We had an evening at the Coach and Horses meeting up with a group of old members of the mountaineering club and went to Manu and Crystal's to see progress on their house and have lunch with them and Pete and Reuben. Tea and cake with Alex and Rob on Monday was one of 5 activities for the day.

And our refreshment break at the Hanbury Turn pub in Bromsgrove after our 12.5km walk

The mountain bikes have been serviced which meant we had to go out for a ride to check them. Brian has met up with Paul, who he did the Cotswold Way with to plan their next adventure, the Great Glen Way. Much time has also been spent looking at our next trip which I'm finding quite off putting as we've barely been back. We've spent a couple of very hot days emptying and cleaning the house in Coventry that Brian and Terry bought years ago for their retirement. The tenant finally moved out after a year of trying, leaving so much stuff, a very noisy air-conditioning unit which we've used a couple of times, more cleaning stuff than imaginable though it's a shame they didn't actually use some of it and food that I've taken to the food bank. It's now on the market, so fingers crossed it doesn't take too long to sell!

The next Tuesdays walk along the canal to historic Droitwich with John and Brian

Last week was brilliant, Caroline came to stay on Friday before we dropped her at the Metropole hotel on Saturday for Dinocon, a dinosaur convention. Her friend, Faith, was meeting her there, so as a treat we bought them a room there. We stopped in at Denise and Paul after dropping her off, for a coffee, from which we finally got home about 17.00 after an impromptu lunch out. We collected Caroline on Sunday as she wanted to stay with us for a few days which was lovely. We thoroughly enjoyed having her stay, talking, walking, visiting Birmingham. She came out with us on the Monday to Diwan's, for curry, with Monday club as a belated celebration for Jill's birthday, going home on Wednesday. Fortunately her train home was actually on time, unlike her train to us which was hideously delayed and standing room only. We had the afternoon to wash and shop as Bev and Iain from Bristol arrived on Thursday for the weekend. We had a lovely time, lots of chat, eating and drinking. Thursday is food van night at the Weighbridge, Friday Kurzi lamb, Saturday we had a Saturday Lunch Club with Manu and Crystal and Helen. We were going to the tiny theatre at the Old Joint Stock in Birmingham at 17.00 so this was all planned and ran like clockwork. Sunday we had brunch in the village before going to the Barn at Studley where most of our garden decorations have come from. Bev had liked what we'd done so wanted to see what they had to offer. They shopped, and so did we, a crocogator to add to Geraldine the Giraffe and Babar the Elephant.

Now we are halfway through another week and it doesn't feel like we are quieting down at all!

Droitwich is an old spa town with supposed healing waters, so there are many brine springs around the town. Brine has been collected here for over 2000 years used for preserving foods. The Romans used it to make salt and, in Victorian times spa baths were opened

One of the many old buildings in the town. 

Which was next door to The Hop Pole, our destination for  the afternoon serving excellent cask ale

There's a pattern I know, but this was the third Tuesday walk with just Brian. This is the hill up from our home village of Alvechurch, which is down there in  amongst the trees. We're intending to come up here on April 12th to see the 90% partial eclipse. We are facing west, just the position the sun will be at 6:15pm when the eclipse starts. We're not going to bother if its cloudy though!

Followed by drinks in the Coach and Horses Inn in Weatheroak afterwards

Our bike ride on our serviced bikes

Walking through the sunflower field with Caroline when she came to stay

Feeding the koi carp in the aquarium at Beckets Farm

Very hungry fish!

Caroline and Jackie in front of St Martins Church in the Bull Ring, Birmingham

On the  Black Sabbath Bridge on Broad Street, Birmingham. They have erected a camera opposite so we had to use it 

After Caroline left Bev and Iain came to stay and, on Thursday we had a day out sightseeing in lovely Henley In Arden, followed by Warwick and Leamington Spa, another Spa town 

The wonderful Kurzi Lamb in our village Indian restaurant

Followed by drinks and chat in our back garden on a warm evening, finally going to bed about 2:00am

Saturday early afternoon we met up with Ming, Manu and Helen for a Chinese lunch at the Ivy Lounge in Birmingham City Centre

A walk through Grand Central Station in Birmingham past Ozzzy the Bull

This is the tiny theatre in the Old Joint Stock pub in Birmingham. The pub is a fabulous old building that used to be a bank and this small room in the back is a theatre. There were about 40 of us in the audience for this musical, The Shocking Truth about the Flat Earth,, which was extremely well done and a good laugh

We caught the train back to Alvechurch and had a couple in our local, The Weighbridge. The Worcestershire Sway was excellent!

Sunday morning breakfast out at the Ritual cafe in Alvechurch

Our Sunday visit to The Barn in Studley, selling off the wall garden and home ornaments gave us a new addition to the garden, a crocodile. There he is hiding by the fern on the left. We haven't finalised his name yet, either Colin or Cecil

It meant that Barbar the elephant had to move position

This is a spot the cat photo of Luna in our garden one morning while we were outside having breakfast

Well, its Tuesday again and, guess what? We're with John and Brian again, this time having breakfast at the Boatyard Cafe in Beeston Marina in Nottinghamshire (or is it Derbyshire, I'm never quite sure, its on the border)

We had a second cup of tea - Hello Lovely!

After 12 odd km the Steamboat Inn beckoned at Trent Lock, the junction of the Erewash Canal with the River Trent

We finished the walk at Long Eaton Station, making it 14.5km in total. It turns out that Long Eaton station now stands where Sawley Junction used to be. Due to alterations in the track layout (you can see it in the 4 diagrams above) the original Long Eaton station was demolished and Sawley Junction renamed Long Eaton in 1968

We had to change trains in Birmingham for our train home so took the opportunity of calling into the Good Intent pub in the city for a final couple before going home. So ends a busy month back in the UK!