We left home at 8am this morning and had a great journey up to Bishop Auckland in County Durham where Keith's brother lives. We didn't get away with a non-stop journey, though, and made a stop on the M1 for the children to have a second breakfast at a McDonald's. I'd bought some pastries in Tesco yesterday and although they'd had a pain au chocolat before we left, that wasn't enough for them, obviously!
The weather was gorgeous with lots of sunshine and little fluffy white clouds. I hoped it would stay that way! We arrived at Val's house at about 11.30am and had a long chat. He's just been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer and although a little thinner and fragile than when we last saw him, he did seem quite well.
After a lunch of sausage rolls and fruit pies, we left at 2pm and drove to Keith's home town of Ferryhill to see his ex-Brother-in-Law who runs a Wine Bar in the small town. They both had a lot to catch up on and general hilarity ensued as they chatted. Although they're friends on Facebook, Keith said it was great to see John in the flesh again as the last time they'd met up was almost two years ago.
We reluctantly said our goodbyes at about 3.30pm and set Gladys to find the pub we'd picked in the Nottinghamshire village of Laxton. I'd already booked a table and we hoped to be there for about 6.30pm.
As it was a Friday and the schools broke up for Easter today, the traffic was a lot heavier than on the way up. We carried on along the A1 into Nottinghamshire and made the village at a much earlier than anticipated time of 6pm. Laxton is gorgeous and I was delighted with the choice I'd made - The Dovecote Inn.
It's a beautiful pub, very warm and welcoming with soft lamps, lovely furnishings and an efficient, friendly landlady who ensured we had a great evening. We stood at the bar for a while to stretch our legs and then made our way to our reserved table which overlooked the village church.
Sophie, Mike and I chose garlic bread as a starter and this was delicious, made from a seeded rustic bread with lots of garlic and green leaves to garnish. Sophie and I then had a delicious chicken breast served with a casserole of new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, chorizo and butternut squash. Keith went for the lamb shank and Mikey chose a beautiful steak pie that was undoubtedly home-made with chunky chips and veggies that did for the rest of us as well.
Keith was happy with the beer served in the pub and we all heartily wished it was nearer to home! We left at 8pm and Gladys said we should be arriving back on our driveway at just after 9.30pm. I sincerely hoped we'd have no hold-ups!
We did have a good journey home, turning off the dark A1 at Stamford to follow the A43 back to our doorstep almost! It was lovely to get home and Keith and I had a wee dram before hitting the sheets!
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