Wedding No. 4

Last weekend we were at the wedding of my friends Michelle and Tony. I can't believe this was our fourth wedding this year, this one however was a bit closer to home. It was a simple affair held in a beautiful setting, Eastwell Manor near Ashford. Michelle looked so lovely and it was an emotional ceremony held outside in a secluded walled courtyard.

I was one of the official photographers so spent much of the day ordering people around into various different line-ups and configurations. Mike took the task as photograhers assistant and offical bag carrier. It was obvious though that he really wasn't taking his role seriously as often when I looked round for him to change the film I found him casually leaning against a wall, shades on, smoking a fag and trying not to look embarrassed with a fetching green handbag on his arm.

The day went really well an after several rolls of film, I was glad to sit down and tuck into a gorgeous roast dinner and sticky toffee pudding. I woke up the next morning and I could hardly move my legs and felt like had climbed mount everest only to realise that my thighs had been through their own personal workout with all the crouching and wierd body postures that a photographer obviously needs to do. So a restful week on the sofa ensued.

Fish for our Supper?

Last weekend saw the highest tides since the 1950's and although weathermen had predicted all coastal towns maybe on flood alert, this did nothing to stop Mike from packing up his fishing gear and getting out to our favourite spot in Seasalter to catch the biggest seabass of all time. Apparantly the high tides will bring in the big fish and so Mike set to with both rods hoping to land the catch of the day.

Our lovely neighbours with son Harry and friends Mark and Paula and their two children, Finn and Lyra joined us for a picnic on the beach whilst we watched Mike in anticipation of our fish supper. It was a beautiful and day and we soaked up the sun and watched the tide come in. Seasalter is a totally different to our local beach, its more sandy, rugged and remote. Perfect for a picnic. We scoffed our sandwiches, drank wine and read the papers whilst periodically rescuing a child or 2 from the waters edge.

Sadly, Mike's enthusiam was the best thing he could offer, as the sea was unforgiving and he only hooked a couple of small bass and a very slippery eel. Still a lovely day was had by all and freezer remains empty of our seabass stock. Luckily the fish market has a plentiful supply.

Being a Domestic Goddess

This weekend our house has been filled with the smells of all things cullinary. A weekend full of baking and cooking topped the bill. Due to our abundant tomato supply I have managed to create many a thing from a tomato. So we had tomato soup, pasta sauce, one with garlic, one with basil and one with rosemary and trays of lovely roasted tomatoes. Then, to go with our soup I baked some gorgeous bread and whilst in the baking mood knocked up a batch of chocolate muffins and a banana cake.

There was no stopping me. To round off our lovely supper, I baked a tasty blackberry and apple crumble with berries from our front garden and apples from our neighbours garden.

Mike, who spent the day lounging on the sofa recovering from his busy week was like the cat who got the cream when he eventually stirred to discover the kitchen had turned into something that resembled a high class tea shop. So we munched on all our lovely homemade food all weekend and it was gorgeous tasty feast.

Back to Cumbria

Last weekend saw Mike and I heading back up the A1 towards Cumbria for another wedding in the same town as my brothers. Our dear friends Kellie and Gareth finally got round to tying the knot after years of togetherness and 2 beautiful daughters.

We set off in a convoy with Charlie and Spencer, Robert and Trudi and gang of kids, leaving at the disgusting time of 4am. We met up at one of Britains gormet service stations for breakfast which nearly broke the bank but a welcome relief.

We arrived at our lovely B&B early so we set off to find some lunch and headed off to help the bride and groom to be set up the venue. By the time the afternoon drew to a close we were all so tired and ready for an afternoon nap, so headed back to the B&B for a kip. Unforntunately that was not to be for Charlie and Spencer who got cornered by our host Jean, who proceeded to fill them in on her entire medical history, life story and a long list of 'interesting' facts about former guests. Luckily Mike and I managed to slip up to our room without being noticed and got our heads down. An early evening meal in a local pub finished off the day nicely and we all managed to get an early night.

The following day, Jean cooked us up a hearty breakfast and continued the conversations from the following day and so feeling much more refreshed we attended the wedding which was great fun. Kellie looked gorgeous and Gareth also scrubbed up a treat. The day unfolded and there was much partying with lots of old friends of Mikes and plenty of food and drink. We said goodbye to Kellie and Gareth who eventually left in a limo for a few nights by the Lakes minus the girls and we made our way back to the B&B hoping that Jean wasn't waiting to have another long discussion with us all.

Our luck was in and we got off lightly and climbed into bed in peace.