The weather was much quieter today but a lot of our roads were still affected by fallen trees. Mike went on a trip to the Guardian offices in London today but only told us about it last night at dinner. He had to be at college at 7.30am so Keith drove him in and came back to say the local traffic was horrendous as a road had been closed in Holcot.
We took Sophie to uni and then Keith and I went for a four mile walk around the nature reserve. On the way we passed the farmhouse at the end of the track and the woman who lives there came out to say she'd been without power since yesterday because of a tree falling on a power line. There were several vans from Western Power parked outside as they were no doubt attempting to re-connect her.
All the way along our walk we saw fallen branches and twigs but luckily no trees had come down. It was still quite breezy and cold! We didn't see any wildlife today, but heard several pheasants cackling away in the distance!
Back home we had lunch and then I washed all the glasses we have on the top of our cupboards in the kitchen. I went to get Sophie at 4.30pm and called Mike to find out what time he'd be back at college. He said he hoped to be back for the same time as I was picking up Soph at 5pm. I collected my daughter and on the way to college Mike texted me to say he was still on the motorway and would be late. I didn't know whether to turn around and go home or drive to the college and wait...luckily I made the right decision to go to the college because he arrived about 20 minutes after the call!
In the evening I went out with my friends Lynda, Andrea and Fiona to The Royal Oak in Cogenhoe, a pub I'd never been to before and which had been refurbished and taken over by new owners. I picked Lynda up and we drove the very short distance to the pub which was full to the gunnels with Friday night drinkers. Andrea and Fiona arrived just minutes after us and we went through to the much quieter dining room with our drinks.
We hadn't seen each other since before Christmas so we had a lot to catch up on. Lynda gave each of us a lovely Christmas bauble that contained a small bar of soap and some hand cream. They were supposed to have arrived before our last Come Dine With Me, so that was a nice little surprise!
We had a delicious meal and the food was very good indeed. I started with Halloumi fritters served with pomegranate seeds and a pesto mayonnaise, followed by good old fish and chips. Both courses were beautifully cooked and my fish was very tasty indeed, with a lovely crispy batter. The others had pork belly nibbles and king prawns to start followed by chicken in a mushroom and bacon sauce and sea bass. Fiona had fish and chips, the same as me, but couldn't finish her meal! We managed to find room for dessert after a bit of a rest and while Lynda and Andrea had cheese and biscuits, Fiona and I opted for fruit crumble and chocolate cheesecake. I ordered two bottles of Chenin Blanc to go with the meal (I just had a glass) and the bill came to £165 including pre-dinner drinks.
We were the last to leave and I gave everyone a lift home. Sophie was still waiting up for me when I arrived home so we had a quick chat and then it was definitely time for bed!
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