Afternoon tea!

I didn't sleep very well last night as my son didn't get a lift home as planned. I woke up at 1.30am and asked Keith if he was home but he hadn't returned. I decided to text him but my message went unanswered (no surprise there). I got up at about 2.30am and stared out of the living room window for a while but gave up and went back to bed. Finally at 3am, after I'd called him, he texted me to say he was staying at a friend's house in Brixworth... I ended the message with a grumpy "Thanks for telling me!"

We awoke to a glorious day with beautiful, clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine. It's been cold too, but I much prefer that to the mild damp weather! Sophie and I went to get Mike and rather than being in Brixworth as he said, he was at a house in town, and was very tired and hungry. I had a short, sharp word about keeping in contact with me so I could sleep at night!

I took him to work at 12pm (he was shattered) and then drove home to get ready to go out with my Mum and Sophie for afternoon tea in Woburn. It took us an hour to get to the small Buckinghamshire town and after driving through the grounds of Woburn Abbey and seeing some deer, we parked and had a mooch around two lovely shops selling homeware and gifts.

Our afternoon tea at The Woburn Hotel was booked for 3pm and we were taken through to a lovely cosy lounge where Sophie and Mum sat on a sofa and I took one of the two armchairs. Our plates and cups were arranged on a small table and it was all very comfortable and warm. There wasn't a log fire but that didn't matter!

We enjoyed ham and mustard, egg and cress, cream cheese and cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches, followed by scones with jam and clotted cream and an assortment of cakes. There was lashings of hot tea and the staff were excellent and very friendly. My only gripe was the £4.85 we were charged for three tiny finger sandwiches of cheese for Sophie who wasn't keen on the selection in the afternoon tea.

We were all full long before we'd eaten all the offerings so we boxed up the leftover cakes and Mum took them home with her. We'd had a really lovely time and Mum had thoroughly enjoyed herself.

We took the scenic route home in the growing dusk and meandered through Newport Pagnell, Tyringham, Filgrave, Olney and Castle Ashby. We dropped Mum off at home and then sped over to Brixworth to get Mike from work. He had been waiting a little while and was freezing cold, bless him!

Sophie and I didn't fancy a big dinner in the evening so we made do with leftover pizza from the boys' tea!