We all went for breakfast at Beckworth Emporium this morning and Mum and Dad came along as well. I wouldn't be seeing them this evening because it was my Dad's Model Aeroplane Club annual dinner and they were staying the night at the hotel where it was being held. We made an excuse for Mike so he could get out of school for an hour otherwise he would have missed out!
We arrived to find Mum and Dad already at the table in the lovely sunny conservatory and over a cup of coffee I opened my cards from them. I'd already opened my cards from the children and Keith at home and was delighted with cash (to spend on the living room no doubt!), a bottle of wine from Sophie, chocolates from Mikey and also a voucher from Sophie for either afternoon tea or a breakfast at Beckworth whenever I wanted!
We all had a lovely cooked breakfast with very efficient service and delicious food. The place wasn't busy at all and it was utter bliss to sit with my family and relax for an hour. When we were finished we dropped Sophie and Mike off at uni and school and drove to Aldi to get some shopping to tide us over the weekend. I then took Keith home and went back to pick up Sophie who now finishes at 12pm on a Friday.
We drove to Next on Riverside for a cup of tea as Mum had given me a voucher and I wanted to get a new clock for the living room. The one we have at the moment is quite old-fashioned and just does not go in there any more! Sophie treated me to a cup of tea and we sat right by the window which was a bit scary as it was glass from floor to ceiling!
I picked out a lovely silver clock and we went home to relax for the rest of the afternoon. I had to post some cards so just before the sun set we walked to the post box on the edge of the estate with Monty who had the time of his life gambolling around in the undergrowth! We walked down to the gate leading into the field and looked out for the Red Kites which seem to have disappeared lately. The sky was a mix of blue and pink and the landscape looked breathtakingly beautiful. To our delight we saw a little robin on the fence and he kept hopping nearer and nearer.
We walked slowly back and then meandered around the estate with a happy Monty. Back home it was time for a warm bath before we walked up in the frosty night air to the pub for my birthday dinner.
I was a bit dismayed to find the pub packed to bursting point and we actually had difficulty getting through the door and to the bar! Our reserved table had been requisitioned by another family but they hurriedly left when we were shown to our seats. Sophie and I chose a bottle of wine to share and we had a look at the menus with Sophie keen to try the burger. Keith chose fish and chips (as usual), Mike went for the steak and ale pie and I opted for the pork belly.
There were a couple of things I wasn't thrilled with before we had our meal - I was sat right underneath a speaker with the music turned up quite loud which made hearing what my family were saying a bit difficult. Why does there have to be loud music in country pubs? The other thing was a little group of children in the corner who were having fun with a game of Jenga, not really the most suitable game for a pub! Their parents were standing at the bar chatting and drinking and Sophie was not at all happy that the children were running about and jumping up and down the small flight of stairs leading to another part of the pub. All in all it was very noisy!
We ordered our meals and Keith's and Mike's dishes arrived well before mine and Sophie's. When my daughter's burger arrived it was very pink in the middle and she looked very unhappy, especially as we'd watched a programme on restaurant burgers the other day and the advice was never to serve burgers pink. Steaks are fine as all the bacteria is on the outside of the meat which is cooked well, but burgers are made up of minced beef and the bacteria could well be sitting right in the middle. My pork belly was on the small side so my birthday meal was rapidly turning out to be a bit disappointing!
We sent the burger back and Sophie would have worried about eating it and I hate to say that we were all finished our meals before she received her dinner. My pork belly tasted lovely and the sauce that accompanied it was delicious but it just wasn't very big! It sat in the middle of a huge square plate and looked a little lost!
For desserts we chose chocolate brownies (Soph and Mike), cheese and biscuits (Keith) and a bitter chocolate and malt tart (me) which was very good and certainly filled up the space left in my tummy! Although I love visiting the pub for a drink I don't think we'll be coming back to eat!
Walking back under the stars was lovely and despite the disappointment I had a wonderful birthday!
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