A Nice Walk

Last week's walk wasn't as pretty as most, there was a fair amount of walking on roads. But we did walk through some countryside

and found this gorgeous converted church.

The owners told us a bit about the history.

The public footpath goes right through the garden

following the line of their footpath, just where that lawnmower is.

They are going to apply to move the path to the boundary of the garden

where I was standing to take this photo. It would offer them more privacy

and give photographers a better view of the whole building. 

Back at the pub where I had a free meal! After ordering our food my lasagne didn't arrive. I was just about to enquire when the waitress who took our order came over, she was very apologetic as she explained it hadn't gone through to the kitchen. I think it was the supervisor who then came over, also very apologetic, to tell me that they wouldn't charge me for it, AND when it did arrive the kitchen had given me an extra large portion!! Although a free meal is a bonus it did mean that most of my group were halfway through their meals by the time mine arrived, and one had finished, then I felt a bit like they were waiting for me to finish before they could go. I did say I didn't mind if they left but they seemed happy to finish their drinks and chat.

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Polly x

A Nice Day Out

Our latest U3A bus pass group outing was to Southend-on-Sea. I like seaside towns, probably because they hold happy memories of childhood holidays.

The weather was good, sunny with a few clouds but very warm.

Mind you I don't like the amusements anymore,

too noisy and I have developed a phobia for heights!

After a lunch of fish-n-chips M and I had a walk around. There are 46 large elephant sculptures and 72 baby elephants scattered around landmarks of Southend, Leigh and Shoeburyness.

The art trail is free but purchasing a map supports Haven Hospices. Unfortunately I only managed to see a few. If I had been on my own

I would have walked around a lot more. 

We were going to walk to the end of the pier and ride the train back

but the weather had become overcast and VERY blustery,

so we took the train there and back. 

The station

The train

At 1.3 miles the pier is the world's longest pleasure pier.

Doesn't that look cold, it wasn't though, I was brave and wore a short sleeved dress and didn't have a cardigan with me!! 

Cafés, restaurants and shops at the Arches along the promenade.

We finished our day with a coffee in M&S café.

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Polly x

A Good Read

The Lies We Tell by Jane Corry
Sarah always thought of herself and her husband, Tom, as good people. But that was before their son Freddy came home saying he'd done something terrible. Begging them not to tell the police.
Sarah and Tom are thrust into a moral dilemma, how far are they willing to go to protect their only child?
As the lies build up and Sarah is presented with the perfect opportunity to get Freddy off the hook, she is faced with a terrifying decision . . .
Save her son . . . or save herself?

I really enjoyed this well written psychological thriller, it has a very good premise and plenty of plot twists to keep you invested to the end.

∼ Happy Reading∼ 

Polly x

A Nice Walk

 This walk was around Hatfield Peverel

St Andrew's church

The wall of remembrance

Harvest time already

A short rest.

Our leader had sweets - haribos and Werther's toffees. I chose a toffee

Look at that sky! The week before the walk the long range weather forecast was for rain but we had glorious weather, warm and sunny with just a few clouds.

Back in the village there were lots of very pretty gardens. This was my favourite with the wheelbarrow, pergola and a stunning huge lily.

After a nice 4½ mile walk we had all worked up an appetite.

I had gammon, egg and chips, it was delicious.

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Polly x

A Good Read

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
Set in 1957, the south-east suburbs of London, Jean Swinney is a feature writer on a local newspaper. Disappointed in love and on the brink of forty she is living with her truculent, overbearing mother, a drab existence from which there is no likelihood of escape.
When a young Swiss woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, Jean is assigned to write a feature about Gretchen, to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud. But the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes strangely (and not unpleasantly) intertwined with that of the Tilburys: Gretchen is now a friend, and her quirky and charming daughter Margaret a sort of surrogate child. And Jean doesn't mean to fall in love with Gretchen's husband, Howard, but Howard surprises her with his dry wit, his intelligence and his kindness — and when she does fall, she falls hard.

This is such a tender, beautiful novel. I loved the characters and enjoyed reading about their lives. I particularly enjoyed the 50’s setting with descriptions of work life, home life, fashion and leisure, all portrayed so well. And it's delightful how Jean's fluffier news pieces about domestic matters are interspersed throughout the novel. I remember people talking about “The first cigarette of the day” being a small pleasure! Different times.

I love the dress on the cover.

BUT… the end. A lot of reviews I have read agree - was it really necessary to end like it did? and, if you don't like the ending of a novel after really enjoying the story, is it still a successful reading experience? Well yes it was for me.

∼ Happy Reading∼ 

Polly x

Wivenhoe

A Nice Day Out - except for the weather, it rained all day :-(

Another U3A bus pass outing, this time to Wivenhoe, a pretty town on the banks of the river Colne, with beautiful townhouses and old pubs. We took a bus from Chelmsford to Colchester, then from there to Wivenhoe.

I don't know about you dear reader, but there is only so much meandering

I can do when the weather is bad. It wasn't cold but the rain just

made it feel miserable.

So we didn't wander around as much as we would have had the weather

been dry and sunny.

I can see myself sitting in this lovely cabin on a hot day with a glass of Asti, looking out enjoying the view.

The very wet High Street

Interesting church spire

After lunch of fish'n'chips

we made our way back to the lovely old fashioned station for the

bus back to Colchester, and then home.

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Polly x

A Nice Walk

Another nice walk with the U3A was around the coutryside of Little Baddow. Originally it was going to be in open countryside but because the weather had turned hot again our leader decided to go for the woodland option.

I prefer woods, the dappled shade, the soft leaves and soil underfoot, and the coolness. 

As usual we met in a pub car park. The area covered by our walk is very affluent, we passed some beautiful jaw dropping houses. 

Just around the corner from the pub we heard the familiar call of a peacock. We've had one in my village for a few weeks but he's gone now. This beauty above was in someone's drive. I wanted to get a good photo but I didn't want to trespass too far onto their property!

The lady in yellow in the middle of the photo above had mislaid her dog. Some of our party saw it running off in the opposite direction. It was an elderly rescue dog and a bit nervous but the lady was confident it would return, which it did. All was well.

A tranquil resting place

We saw some huge ant hills. It's difficult to see how big this one is because there was nothing to compare it with. It was about four feet wide by about three feet high.

Five miles later we were back at the pub for lunch

In the garden, I'm not sure if these were young peacocks,

the male didn't have the splendid tale. He approached very slowly

and eventually they wandered off together.

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Polly x