Panto fun

Dominating the past few days has been the pantomime with four performances over Thursday, Friday and Saturday and it really has gone fantastically well with something in the region of £1200 raised for the village hall, as well as getting the place used to great effect. I've been at each show in the kitchen and have poured many beers, glasses of wine, teas and coffees and washed and wiped away. It's been great fun throughout and I have enjoyed getting to know the cast over the run.

Once the final performance had finished, it was time for a party which only ended shortly before 1am with plenty of the Sixpenny Handley beer leftover and bottles and bottles of wine. I walked back along the road and promptly fell asleep in the chair. That meant taking Juno out at 3am before making it into bed. We had Evie and Amelia over for the night, they'd been to the afternoon show with Joy, Maria and Alison, and that meant making a Sunday dinner for them and Joe and Kate when they collected them at lunchtime. I wasn't sure how it would go but Amelia and I took Juno out to the woods and I felt quite refreshed by the time I was back. 

Dinner actually went well and it was good to see everyone round the table again. 

Pantomime WVH

The village hall had its first pantomime show in decades yesterday evening, a showing of Sleeping Beauty which played out in front of a full house, the first of four shows. As part of the hall committee, I am attending each of the performances and it got off to a great start. The first thing is that the hall was seeing just a very slow pick up after Covid  but over the past year things have begun to improve rapidly. 

It must have been the first time I have seen the stage being used after nearly 40 years in Woodlands and it was wonderful to see. The theatre group had set up the hall with lights outside, a gazebo acting as a dressing room area, a lighting rig and sound desk which meant it had a very professional air. We'd organised a space for additional parking across the road and that got full up, so it felt like we had sorted out most things pretty well in preparing for the first event of this type we'd run. 

My role on the evening was in kitchen providing drinks and refreshments and it went well. As well as the coffees and teas, crisps and chocolate, there was wine and beer available and a steady stream of customers before the first part and during the interval kept us busy. I was able to watch the play and the cast did great, even if there were a few lines required from time to time. 

There was quite a throng afterwards too with excited performers having a well earned drink or two taking us late into the evening, it was well after 10.30 by the time I got home. It's the same tonight and then two more on Saturday. With just a few tickets left for tonight, the hall looks likely to receive a good amount to boost funds.

Spring is coming

We had a lovely visit to Glen and Harry's yesterday, a group of us taking the motorhome so we could take Juno for a run with Rag and Fox, as well as accommodate Joseph, Summer, Tiger and Joy. The children had been in Bournemouth earlier for a little shopping whilst Joy and I got the house shipshape. 

The snowdrops were out in force, along with daffodils and crocuses, and there was a real sense of spring being in sight. Inside the house though it was a different story and we were grateful for the big fire Glen got going. Harry had done several varieties of cake for a tea party round the long table and Joy loved it. 

Joseph and I watched PSG lose to Bayern Munich in the evening, as he was sleeping over. I dropped him at Andy's in the morning having already fitted in two dog walks and on the way to Joe and Kate's. They have been looking at making space for offroad parking but it has been a struggle. The idea was to knock down the garden wall but the garage was the first port of call. It was a mess full of things left in there over a year ago when they first moved in, bikes everywhere, scooters too, tools and all sorts of gardening and camping equipment. 

Sadly, rat activity was evident and much had to be thrown away but we did get to grips with the space and it looks entirely possible for the car to be brought partly inside. There are plenty of other jobs to do so I'm going to be going over for a day a week for a while. I stopped at the supermarket on the way home for the groceries and then to Frouds for a sack of potatoes. Another dog walk, clearing up and then getting the just delivered bathroom equipment up to the bedroom, 47kgs of it. 

It's felt like a very full day again and tomorrow promises more of the same with the first performance of the pantomime in the evening. I'm going to be at each of the four showings and am looking forward to it.

Bournemouth beach

We took off to Bournemouth on Saturday morning, Alison, Maria, Joy and myself, for a shopping trip/dog walk. We drove to Boscombe Pier and then into the seafront car park, making our way all the way along the road so we were as close to Bournemouth as possible. Alison and Maria headed into town to the Pandora store whilst Joy remained in the car completing crosswords and I set off across the sand for a walk with Juno. It was such a pleasure walking in the fresh air and seeing so many people out and about too.

Once home we got to watch a little of the football before heading into the woods with Juno. Having caught up with Love Island we were watching Phantom of the Opera which Joy loved.

Sunday was similar in terms of the weather and I got out for another run, this time 2.5 miles off towards Mannington accompanied by Juno. Maria had three friends over for lunch and spent time decorating candles and making gingerbread. They had a lovely time before the twins headed off to the village hall where they were rehearsing for the pantomime which takes to the stage on Thursday.

The car got a good clean, inside and out, removing the sand from yesterday, and checking the tyre pressure. 

Updates

Work on the en suite is underway and in the meantime Joy is sleeping in the room Joseph usually sleeps in. There is a good deal to do in sorting out the drains and conencting the shower to the heat system which is based around the air source heat pump. However, it all looks possible and will just be a matter of time. There is no rush with Joy moving without any ostensible reaction.

We took a trip to Kingston Lacy to see the snowdrops yesterday and stopped off at Stewarts Garden Centre for a bit of tea and Joy had a huge slice of chocolate fudge cake. She did well to finish it all off.

I also made a trip to the Wimborne allotment on Thursday where I got on with some more digging, the various beds ready for the main planting from March. 

Sunshine

It's been the sunniest day of the year so far and a real joy to be about and about starting with the early morning dog walk. By the time we got back at 7, it was light enough to see easily. It was a busy start with Colin arriving to make a beginning on the en suite in Joy's room and Maria missing the bus despite being up ages before it was due. 

Glen popped in and and is delighted with the sales for the festival in June. They've taken thousands in revenue and look like selling out for the first time. They have barely shifted a ticket by this stage in previous years.

I took Joy out in the motorhome for a ride and parked at the allotment at West Moors, just for a little stroll around the trail area for little children and she loved it. It was just an hour out but it hit the spot. That meant I could get on with the tea, macaroni cheese, sausage rolls and sweet potato wedges which the children had when they got in from school. Joseph had a game of football up at the village green and I walked up with Juno to collect him before it got too dark.

Alison was babysitting for Joe and Kate to watch Avatar on his birthday and that let me with the others who either did schoolwork or crosswords. It was a lovely evening and they all got off to bed by 8.30 leaving me listening to Audible until Alison got back just after 10.

The photos come from Amelia's 6th birthday party held on Saturday and the other photo is of Alison at Longbridge Deverill. I am putting some of Joy's old photos online for her to both save them and share them. 

Allotments

The second photo is from my visit to the allotment at West Moors where the broad beans planted in the autumn are over-wintering. I have no idea how they will turn out and have decided to buy some more broad bean seeds in case they don't push on. Having said that, they were pretty successful last year at Wimborne. I hadn't been to this site since well before Christmas but everything looks pretty up together, just a little weeding needed and general tidying up.

The other photos come from Wimborne which I have been to but without doing anything due to either waterlogged ground or hard frost. Again, things are pretty much on track but I did spend some time preparing the beds and they are looking ready for action, which is still some weeks away of course. The patch next to the wooden compost bin is new and was overrun with nettles last year. We will see how productive an area it can be and how well I can keep the weeds down.

The soil seems in good order but there is a pile of rubbish waiting for disposal and I'll need to get on with that fairly soon. It's stuff left over from the previous occupants and from the past few years where you try something and it doesn't work or isn't needed any longer, or simply is the worse for wear and no longer fit for purpose e.g. some of the wire netting. It looks untidy and I want shot of it soon, especially as it can harbour pests.

It was good to get out and I felt the benefit very much. Having Joy has been perfectly fine but it is a tie and this was some space to lose myself in physical activity. I popped into Wimborne and got some plums, fennel, mushrooms and an aubergine before stopping for a pot of tea in the square. Very civilised and restful.

Back home, having collected Maria from school, I walked Juno again and then cracked on with the tea before an evening of crosswords with Joy and Youtube videos of some of her old haunts which were a great distraction for her.