Of moscows mules , Tennyson Down and the Great wall of China

YARMOUTH IOW

A VERY OLD VIEW OF ORCHARD STORES

aka Arkwrights to us.

Its been a while since I blogged, apologies to my hundreds of readers, millions of publishers and positively billions of film producers falling over themselves and drooling with anticipation at the film that could be made of this blog........uh? where am I ?? .......sorry ...in my dreams...



Anyway, time for an update. As my loyal follower(s) and friend(s) know, the Isle of Wight, that lovely little piece of England where time stood still for 30 years before it caught up again, is visited on a yearly basis by yours truly and the gang ..aka the 2x4's (dont ask).

FIELD HOUSE IOW

This year is no exception and Mucky, Legs, BJ and Stubb wended (?) their way to the ferry at Lymington last Saturday lunchtime. Alisson and Jim, our long suffering hosts, were pre warned of our imminent arrival. In fact they agreed to us staying for another 4 days in spite of the fact that they knew exactly what to expect.Well, not EXACTLY because our gang thrives on doing at least one more ridiculous thing every year. Nevertheless, we had not been shunned by these generous folk , although we would not have been surprised to find a note on the door saying they had moved to unknown climes.



A wonderful ferry crossing, brilliant blue skies , no rain or Tsunamis and a great walk to Freshwater to our wonderfully luxurious and welcoming home for 4 days which also must have the most comfortable beds in the world.Im sure the mattress is filled with the down , hand plucked from the backs of extinct dodos or some such creature. This is essential as BJ and I share a bed (we've been together long enough so its allowed) and we are two magnificent specimens of womanhood with a combined tonnage of around 100 .Having a bed that doesnt even move when one gets out is superb.

FRESHWATER BAY

Check out the link to Field House, Pound Green, IOW, in my "chains"
Wondrous food with Jim as a most solicitous host and Alisson being very indulgent with us and we were set for the four days. We had a quiz, raced butterflies and laughed loads, I DO mean loads.

Tennyson down was as beautiful as ever and we managed to squeeze in a cream tea. We got caught in a 10minute downpour on Afton Down, the abiding memory of which will be Mucky attempting to get Legs into her see through plastic poncho that was really nothing more than a very large polythene bag whilst the wind flapped it everywhere and BJ watched in the shelter of the tea shop thinking "oh there they are, poor loves" Yes, thats ALL she did! Not rush out to rescue us or anything . I know it would have been futile but...thats not the point!

We met up with another resident of Alisson and Jims, a very jolly lady called Jean.Well, she was jolly by the time we left.I think the poor woman had been seeking some peace but she made the mistake of booking the same time us us which then made peace unattainable.

She did say she enjoyed it and that laughter was the best medicine,.I still cant help feeling she may have been a tad overwhelmed!
Food at the Vine , the local pub , was the order of most evenings. One evening was spent at the Fatima tandoori where the waiter steadfastly refused to acknowledge that he remembered us.Im sorry, but I just cant believe that we havent made such an impression over the five years that he didnt at least want a one way ticket back to Pakistan! Anyway, the food was great.

The greatest evening was indeed spent in the Vine at the Monday night quiz.Our illustrious hosts and , by this time, totally overwhelmed Jean, came with us and it made the evening all the more special. We ate there again , with great food except that Jean had to eat a beef madras, thinly disguised as a chicken balti.I dont think her stomach will ever be the same!

We thought thatAlisson was fraternising with the enemy at one point but it turns out that she knew some people down there. Jim kept his own council.We did OK except for one or two dodgy answers that we really wanted to dispute like the Great wall of China being 160 km long ...well give or take a few thousand Jim said! This and the 10 correct answers given by some cheating residents (they were using their mobile to access the internet.) to an impossible snowball when clearly they were in the shallow end of the gene pool (not my comment but from one of our group who shall remain nameless) made Jim cross and he turned from quiet scotsman into BRAVEHEART!

We will get them next year, never fear Jim!
Im running out of steam and superlatives but thanks guy(s) and gals, it was quite an adventure yet again. It gets better every year. Watch out for the pics.Ill post them when I can. Hasta la vista IOW.

BALLYBUNTAL...dohh! Why didnt I know that?!