I asked to go with them as I couldn't wait to see his face, so today was the day! She had kept Vikesh in the dark about the day out, sending him into a frenzy as he imagined all sorts taking place!
We picked him up at about 10am and set off up the A14 and the M1 towards Nottinghamshire. Halfway along the M1, we all came to a halt for no obvious reason, but as we started up again, we could see the left lane was completely given over to motorbikes... there were hundreds of them! There were so many of them I had trouble getting into the filter lane to turn off the M1!
Once off the motorway we bypassed Loughborough and headed towards the village of Normanton-on-Soar. Vikesh was becoming more and more apprehensive! The countryside was beautiful and very soon we came to the village. As we passed the sign we saw the village hall and outside was the sign - Rat Show here today!
It all became clear and, to his credit, Vikesh took it very well indeed! He posed for a photo with the sign and I think he was relieved it wasn't anything like sky-diving or deep-sea diving!
We went into the village hall and met Sophie's friend from work who had brought several of her rats to the show, and also a couple that we could hold!
It was great to wander about, looking at the rats and talking to them. They were very inquisitive and kept poking their noses through the bars of their cages. Apparently, they make great pets, and are very clean, but only live to about 2 years!
We asked Sophie's friend lots and lots of questions and I found it all fascinating. However, I'm definitely not going to get any! You have to have them in twos or threes as they're such sociable animals.
We stayed for about an hour and then had a lovely wander to The Plough, about a five-minute walk away. We saw a magnificent Horse Chestnut tree on the village green and we couldn't resist looking for conkers!
The Plough was quiet when we arrived but it soon filled up with lunchtime diners. We chose some bread and olives to start, along with samosas, followed by fish and chips for me (in honour of Keith), chicken for Sophie and hake fillet for Vikesh.
The Plough is a lovely pub set on the banks of the River Soar and we could see a narrow boat moored up on the river. It was a gorgeous, warm day and although the morning had been a bit overcast, the sun made an appearance in the afternoon. It was a bonus day and lots of people were making the most of the good weather by sitting in the pub garden and soaking up the sunshine and warmth. Let's make the most of it while we can!
The food was very good and it was lovely to linger over our lunch and chat about the rats! None of us had room for dessert, so after a quick wander down to the water's edge, we walked back to the village hall to collect the car.
On the way home Sophie fancied an ice cream so we came off the M1 at junction 20 and headed through the villages of Walcote and South Kilworth looking for, ideally, a farm shop! However, there was nothing and one place, that looked promising, wasn't open until the 14th. It was a pumpkin pick-your-own with a shop and café but we were too early!
We eventually ended up at Beckworth and I bought ice cream tubs for us. We went and sat in the sunshine outside and I looked at several beautiful olive trees, with hefty price tags! Amazingly, Vikesh's brother and sister-in-law were at Beckworth, with his sister-in-law's sister and husband (phew!) so we all met to say hello and I was introduced to the family. There was lots of hugging!
We took Vikesh home and we were invited to meet his parents, who were absolutely lovely. They were stunned about the rat show and we had a great laugh about Vikesh's reaction!
Sophie and I returned home and relaxed after our very busy day! We decided not to play Scrabble as it hurt my shoulder (for some reason) to sit at the kitchen island. Dinner this evening was cheese and biscuits accompanied by Celebrity Race Across the World. A perfect end to a lovely day!
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