lathany, posts by tag: 2023 - LiveJournal

We had Christmas at Center Parcs with all the Camuses.


It included our first real tree in years! Even better, we didn't have to sweep up pine needles.



Nighttime paths were magical.



We all gathered for Christmas dinner.

We went to Christmas at Kew for the first time this year.



Lights, trees, food and loaded alcoholic hot chocolate (rum, cream and marshmallows).



It was awesome.

We visited London Aquarium for Bea's birthday.



Our last visit was Al and Kate's wedding.



It's probably apparent but favourites were turtles, jellyfish and rays.

It was my team Xmas do today.



A rather good pub meal and mini golf.

At Kew today.



The weather was great, the Christmas at Kew displays clearly ready for the evening and the cakes a bit substandard and expensive.

It turns out that 6pm is the perfect time to leave for Kempton Fireworks.



We managed fresh doughnuts and everything.

Today, having a day off work I finally made it to Kew (having failed in August because of the weather).



The Met Office forecast promised that the day would improve and it did.



However, Kew was almost deserted other than school parties.



I had a cream tea late morning.

Today was our awayday.



Speakers were excellent, food was tasty.



Also, I've never been here before.

Last night, we braved the awful bus replacement service into London and went to Trinity for a very belated anniverary celebration (in the replacement bus service's defence, the home leg was good).



We had cocktails, five courses with white wine and then port / tokaji. There were the usual pre-dinner starters and warm bread rolls as well. My ones were:

Trinity Cocktail

First course: Cornish Mackerel, Cucumber Gazpacho, Labneh and Lovage
Second course: 'Hubert' Tomatoes from Provence, Cornish Crab, Lavendar
Third course: Chateaubriand of Lake District Beef 'Chasseur' (ie. lots of tiny mushrooms)
Wine: Semillon, 'Watervale', Mount Horrocks, Clare Valley 2020

Fourth course: Cheeses, quince, bagette rolls.
Fifth course: Clapham Honey Souffle, Beeswax Ice Cream
Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos, Disznókő, Hungary 2013



The mackerel was little pieces in Gazpacho which I mopped up with the bread roll. The crab was the centre of the dish and very crisp, surrounded by tomatoes. The beef had a large tomato stuffed with lots of tiny mushrooms (and ran a close second for favourite). I don't have a list of the cheeses, but they gave us five including roquefort, another blue, a goats cheese and two milder ones. The souffle had the ice cream put in the middle of it and tasted very eggy. The cocktail itself was, I think, gin with two different floral vermouths. My favourite course was the crab, but it was all very good.

Ever since we got Reeve, Dom has been responsible for his vet trips, essentially annual. It made sense as Dom was self-employed and worked from home. However, now he's employed I'm the one with the shorter, more flexible hours. So, from this year, I agreed to take him. Better yet, Beatrice was around and would come along.

Reeve never liked his annual MOT. He didn't like the injections, nor being weighed and he sometimes had the indignity of a thermometer up the bum. But it was a one-off, right?

We went off with our puss three weeks ago. I found the place and drove in without wanging the car (the drive is narrow). We took him in and waited. Unfortunately, this wasn't going to be a smooth trip. He was underweight, so the vet wanted to take a blood test for his thyroid. However, Reeve Was Not Up For This. She called in the receptionist and three of us wrestled him (Bea wisely backed out) and failed to get a good sample on both shaved paws. At this point we had a very upset animal, so we were packed off with a tranquiliser pill and an appointment for two days later.

We went back, with a much more docile animal and handed him over. This time she had another vet to help and Bea and I were sent out for a walk. Twenty minutes later we returned and it was done, but apparently he was "wriggly".

A phone call that afternoon confirmed that the poor puss did have a thyroid issue, so I went back the following day, alone, and collected his medicine.

Today was the three-week follow-up appointment. Reeve was more perky and, having explained the appointment needs to the receptionist on the phone ("I remember him!" she said immediately) there was an assistant. Bea and I were sent out and they managed to get a blood sample fairly quickly.

This afternoon's call was confirmation that he has improved but needs to put on more weight so his dose is upped to three times a day (which, incidentally, he also doesn't like, but doesn't involve the cat spaceship).

I'm pretty certain all the yelling from him in the car on the way home was a mixture of swear words and a request to get Dom back.