Weekly Musings

2018 - Week Twenty Five

'You have turned your heart into a museum of people you've loved to keep them alive inside you.'

(Nikita Gill)

I'm going to skip through the majority of this week as it was pretty uneventful with staying at Aum's. I got a poem up on Instagram, read it here, and I went to watch him in his school production of Mary Poppins on Thursday which was amazing, and that is no exaggeration! The school he is at really pull out all the stops when it comes to drama performances: hand painted backdrops, elaborate costumes and full makeup, a live band, mic attachments, the whole she-bang. Considering it is an all boys school and the lead (as well as multiple others) did the complet hour long play in heels and a wig, I was beyond impressed, this year was probably my favourite so far.

On Friday as soon as I had dropped Aum at cricket, I drove 'round to Tasha's and together with Hannah we road tripped up to Carlisle for Lydia's hen party. We didn't arrive until gone 10pm, by which time most were already there and in the hot tub! We hired a beautiful Georgian manor for the affair (there were 16 of us altogether and we all fit in very comfortably), and it was literally my dream house - fireplaces in all the rooms, roll top baths in the bathrooms, its own orchard, an Aga, a twisted staircase/ entrance hall fit for a queen and William Morris wallpaper galore. The rest of the bridesmaids and Emily had arrived early and decorated everywhere with banners, photos and balloons so it looked a treat!

As we turned up quite late we headed to bed after a couple of glasses of fizz, but were up bright and early yesterday ready for an action packed day. After a hearty breakfast we drove in convoy to Ullswater, where we took part in a canoe treasure hunt, which was beyond fun. Lydia's mum sat it out so we were in three teams of five, each in two canoes that had been strapped together. We had to follow clues and row to each next point in order to try and reach the booty first - four bottles of champagne!

 

I'm not going to lie, I am not cut out for rowing! Even with help from our guide who used his speedboat to push us along at times (shoutout to James at Glenridding Activity Centre) we were not exactly speedy. Unfortunately our team didn't win, but four bottles was more than enough bubbly to go around us all, and we needed the Dutch courage for the cliff jump that we did at the end, which was such an adrenaline rush, I did it twice!

Once we were home and had scrubbed up (after I had a quick dip in the hot tub to try it out) we all convened in the dining room for a three course dinner that we'd hired a chef to cook. I had the Thai fishcakes to start, followed by a vegetable tagine, and we all had the trio of desserts to finish - homemade pistachio yoghurt ice cream, triple chocolate mousse and a lemon meringue. The dessert and my main was delicious, but the starter had too much coriander in for my liking, and the meat-eaters main (chicken meatballs?) didn't go down too well. It took the hassle out of cooking or trying to find a restaurant to fit us all in though, especially in the middle of nowhere, so it was worth it.

After food I became a cocktail maker! I had devised a menu and me and a couple of others took orders and whipped up some alcoholic creations for everyone, which were very well received. Lots of silly games, drinking and dancing ensued, which you can thank for my choice of track of the week below, as it is mine and Lydia's 'song'! the last trio standing, Lydia, fellow bridesmaid Lizzie and I made it back into the hot tub with a bottle of prosecco at 2am, so you can imagine I was not feeling the freshest this morning!

Today we set off for home before midday, so I was sunbathing on the roof of the boat before 4pm, and Chris threw together a lovely tea for us ready in time for a Love Island catchup. Corker of a weekend!