The Befouled Weakly News
22 June 2008 Good morning to you all on what looks like it could be a fairly decent day although the weather people are predicting gale force winds – we’ll see. This week has been most enjoyable as we have been entertaining our good friend from Webb, Rick Robertson, and his beautiful and charming wife Jo along with their outstanding seven year old, Will. They very kindly stopped off for three days enroute to a canal holiday in the Netherlands and we were delighted to be able to entertain them in a regal fashion. With hindsight, we probably exhausted them by running them raggedly all over the countryside for two days but at least they will be able to enjoy a thoroughly restful week on the canals. We took them to all the usual haunts; they were obliged to sit through my tedious lecture describing the Battle of Edge Hill and although they smiled and nodded at the appropriate intervals, one could see by the glazed expressions on their faces that this was more than their jet-lagged brains could accommodate. After Edge Hill we drove to Warwick for a photo opportunity outside the castle and then for a fish and chip luncheon of enormous capacity. We knew that Will wouldn’t eat too much so we ordered five fish and four portions of chips. We certainly did not realise that each portion of chips was sufficient to feed a small European principality and indeed ended up discarding two of the four portions (and, let me assure you, Rick has as healthy an appetite as I do).
From Warwick it was on to Kenilworth Castle which is one of my all time favourites (as anyone who has visited us can testify). Kenilworth, many of you will remember, is the castle just north of Warwick which is in a glorious state of ruin but it provides opportunities for all kinds of exploration and climbing up and down the narrow, winding staircases. Since we last visited they have developed an audio service which provides an excellent commentary about the history of the various parts of the castle. Will found this so enjoyable that he worked his way through all the menu options before the rest of us had moved beyond audio stop four. From Kenilworth it was back home to Byfield and a butterflied leg of lamb on the barbeque before retiring at the relatively early hour of about half past ten.
On Thursday morning we set off for Oxford with enormous picnic in tow. But first, we had to make a brief stop at Tesco in Banbury which was the highlight of the trip as far as Will was concerned. A leisurely drive to Oxford was followed by a marvellous punt up the River Cherwell; our picnic was enjoyed along the banks of the river and, as you might imagine, was once again capable of feeding that small European principality. After our punting adventure we made our way into the centre of Oxford and gave our guests a quick romp around some of the colleges and gardens as well as insisting they climb to the top of St Mary’s Church to admire the gleaming spires. Back home by six so that Ms Playchute could put the finishing touches to another feast to which she had invited seemingly the whole of Byfield not to mention our Nick and Lucy; Sandy’s pesto salmon on the barbeque was, as one might expect, an enormous success and the Amy potatoes and butternut squash tart had the assembled guests groaning with satiated pleasure. I expect the countless bottles of wine we consumed may also have played a part in everyone’s enjoyment. And so, on Friday we reluctantly had to put them on a train to Harwich for their midnight ferry crossing to the Hook of Holland for an onward connection to collect their canal boat. Undoubtedly they were considerably more rotund than when they first arrived but at least they won’t need to eat anything for the duration of their trip. It was great fun. And finally, we caught the tail end of "From Our Own Correspondent" on Radio 4 the other day and a piece by Kevin Connelly we found to be quite intriguing. Have a listen here. Love to you all, Greg "Y'all got any American razor blades in here?" the Texan asked the London pharmacist. "All I see are these damn Wilkinson’s." "Sir," the Englishman patiently replied, "Wilkinson has been producing the finest surgical instruments, weapons and razors since before Waterloo." "I don't give a damn if they passed them out on Noah's Ark if they ain't any good," the Texan retorted. "I can assure you they are very good sir." the peeved druggist said. "Why just last year, my wife swallowed one. It gave her a tonsillectomy, an appendectomy, a hysterectomy, circumcised the gardener - and I still got 10 shaves out of it." A woman went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. "What denomination?" asked the clerk. "Oh, good heavens! Have we come to this?" said the woman. "Well, give me 50 Catholic and 50 Baptist ones." AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES Back to Greg's Temporary Home Page
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