Mish-mash

This week was the last meeting of the reading group I belong to for a couple of months, there is always a break for the summer holidays.  Normally we meet in the local library but the group decided to hold the meeting at the local pub, and enjoy an evening meal as well as talking about the book for this month 'Still Alice'  by Lisa Genova.  .
Some members enjoyed the book more than others but all agreed the subject 'Early Onset Alzheimers' was not a comfortable read.  Perhaps being a group of 'mature ladies' some of the signs are familiar to us on a personal level - What did I want to get from upstairs?
But the company was good and the meal was enjoyable.  I felt very noble ordering grilled fish and salad when most of the group were enjoying traditional fish and chips.  When my meal arrived, the person who took my order had made a mistake and brought fish in batter as well as chips - not a lettuce leaf in sight.  They did offer to take it away and cook the meal I had ordered, but I weakened and said it would be alright.

Gardening -  this year the strawberries have done well, in spite of the very changeable weather we are experiencing, but they are coming to an end.  We've enjoyed  strawberries on breakfast cereal, as a desert with ice cream, or just dipped into the bowl of strawberries from the fridge. But B has used them to make a gorgeous fresh cream, strawberry and almond gateau.  It didn't last very long and I'm sure we've put on pounds that need to be worked off at the gym.  B also added them to a summer pudding along with redcurrants and blackcurrants -  and we gave some strawberries to our new neighbours.

The blackbirds in the garden have not been deprived - there were about five pots of strawberries (as well as the raised bed, which was protected by a mesh cage) and have helped themselves as the strawberries ripened.  They ignore the wild strawberries which have seeded themselves around the borders -  they definitely prefer the garden variety.

The peas will soon be ready to be picked - again, this year's weather has suited them and they have thrived.  I grow several different varieties and these are the earlist to produce pods and plenty of them.

But this last photo with the sun behind the plants shows that the peas have to fill out quite a lot before they will be worth picking.

A day out

Yesterday I went out for the day with a group of retired teachers from Staffordshire - they travel to different places of interest several times during the year. My neighbour, also a retired teacher, and I share the transport, so this time I did the driving.  We needed to arrive at our first destination sometime roundabout 10 o'clock for coffee in a village called Alton, very close to Alton Towers, a very popular theme park - if you like roller coasters etc.  When we were all gathered we started our walk around the village.

We had a guided tour of St Peter's Church, a simple church with very little ornament.  The internal arches were rounded, while the outside arches were pointed.  I don't know whether this points to different building peiods.

We left this church just as the rain started and walked further in the village till we came to Alton castle.  This is all that remains of the castle after it was destroyed during the Civil War, about 500 years ago.

This Victorian building, also known as Alton castle, was built next to the original castle and is almost two hundred years old.  It was designed by A.W.N. Pugin, an early Victorian architect, who was prominent in the Gothic Revival style of architecture.  The green and yellow tiles on the roof can be seen from miles away.

Time for lunch and the group travelled five miles onto Cheadle, a small country town where we enjoyed a pub lunch, before our second guided tour of the day at the Catholic Church of St Giles, designed by Pugin and considered to be his finest work.

The church is elaborately decorated (and of course I took quite a lot of photos), but they do not do justice to the building.  The west doors are guarded by these rampant lions.

A Talbot fighting dog is on guard at each side of this window.

This is the east facing window behind the high altar, again designed by Pugin.

Looking through the rood screen into the ceiling of the church, every surface intricately painted in bright colours and gold.

This side chapel  gives some idea of the amount of decoration, repeated throughout the building.

By the time we had been around this church we needed to go back to the Discovery Centre to be feasted with tea and cakes, then make our way back home.  It made a memorable day out, and worth a second visit.

A theatrical treat

Last weekend we went to an outdoor performance of Much Ado About Nothing at Stafford Castle.  This year was the 25th year that Stafford Council has sponsored a Shakespeare performance at the castle and this year is the first time we have attended a performance.  Having seen Shakespeare performances in the past at Stratford,  and London and on film and TV productions  we did not realise  just how entertaining the pro-am cast would make the performance.  The production was as good as any we have seen and we think that we will be attending annually from now on.

The play setting was in the early years of the twentieth century, at the end of the Second World War.  To warm -up the audience there was a pre-show entertainment featuring songs from the period and of course the audience were encouraged to join in - a bit like panto.  The quality of musicianship of the actors was a bonus - the fourteen actors, they all seemed to be able to play and sing - accompanying the audience participation on a wide variety on instruments.
                                                                                  

Once the play proper started, it was true to the script and many of the phrases we recognised, not realising that they were from Shakespeare.  The actors brought out the comedy, making the plot easy tó follow. 

When the interval came we had time to walk up the hill to the foot of the castle and enjoy the view from the high vantage point.