Saturday, Sunday and Monday

Saturday

We all had an early start this morning and Gareth was here to finish the doors at 8.00 and he worked really hard and finished about 11.00.

Heather said she was going to the gym but work up with a cold so just stayed home but was in a better mood.

We finally managed to get off to drive to W. Sussex about 12.00 and Heather was going to go over to help Jane and Jason.

The drive down the M11 was very stop start from Stansted to the M25 and then it was a clear run. We stopped near Guildford for some lunch and then continued and arrived at Malcolm's at 3.30 and it was still very cold and lots of frost still around.

We had a cuppa and a chat for the rest of the afternoon before getting ready to go over to Liphook to visit some friends we knew in Spain and who lived near us when we were living in Haslemere.

It was lovely to meet up with Geoff and Dorothy and we chatted all night and had a lovely dinner but the time went over far too fast and before we knew it the taxi was waiting outside and it was nearly midnight!

We got back to Northchapel about 12.30 and the temperature had risen a lot and it was not so cold as it was this morning.

WEATHER
Sunny spells then some cloud, very cold start 5 degrees

Sunday

We slept really well and were up just after eight and Malcolm made us a good cooked breakfast.

We then went into Haslemere to the Christmas market. We parked our car in the driveway of some of Malcolm's friends who live just off the High Street which was very convenient as the whole town was very packed. They have a beautiful house and lovely views with a lovely garden and swimming pool.

The Christmas market was very 'upmarket' but then you would expect it to be so in Haslemere. They had some lovely food stalls and gift stalls. We stopped in a bar and had a coffee before continuing round the market which was very big. We bought some turkey sausages and Malcolm bought his Christmas turkey which he will now freeze.

Once we had left the market we drove across to pick up Malcolm's car from Liphook where we had left it last night.

We had a nice drive back, I had forgotten how pretty it all is around there. We cross from W. Sussex to Surrey to Hampshire but it is all lovely and I remember the lovely walks we used to have when we lived there.

Back to the house and then we took a walk up the road to the pub and sat in front of a roaring fire and had a drink before returning home to put the lamb in the oven to roast.

We spent the afternoon reading the papers and dozing, all very relaxing.

Dinner was very good with far too much wine and then we played Rummikub a very good game I knew of but had never played and we had a really good laugh.

WEATHER
Sunny day and not so cold 10 degrees

Monday

Another good sleep and up for yet another cooked breakfast. I will have to watch my weight after all this food.

We packed our bags and left to drive home. We drove up to Oak Tree Lane which is where we used to live. The house looks pretty much the same as it was when we lived there but the street looks a bit scruffy now but it could be due to all the leaves on the floor. It is still the best house, location wise, that we have lived in. I wouldn't mind living down there again but we could never afford it all very, very expensive,

We then drove up to Hindhead and a National Trust beauty spot, The Devils Punchbowl, and they just happen to have a very nice coffee shop. This area has changed a lot since we lived there as it was on the main A3, London/Portsmouth road but a tunnel was built a few years ago and they have closed the old road and made it all back to National Trust land with walks and parks and lovely views.

We then set off driving back to Newmarket and had such a good drive as the roads were all clear and we were home about 1.30.

After unpacking and putting some washing on I heated some soup for lunch.

I rang Jane and we had a quick chat and I will go over tomorrow and help her and also look after Riley as she needs to pop in to Ely.

I then did some cleaning before getting the Christmas decorations down and Jon put the tree up. It looked very big when we had it in NZ but it looks very small here!

Heather was out for dinner tonight so it was just Jon and I and we had pasta and chicken.

It is very cold again tonight and they say it will be -2 so another frost in the morning!

WEATHER
A lovely clear day 7 degrees