Oct 15: Craft and culture at Stratford...

Friday 16 October


Rosemary suggested a genteel weekend of culture in Stratford.  What a good idea we thought - as long as it's our sort of culture!...

So the accommodation was booked and Wendy, Siobhan, Sue, Rosemary, Carol, Linda, Janice, Jeanette, Trisha and newbie Joyce (we had managed to find her in a hiatus between trips, hikes and adventures!) - and Sally joined us the next morning.

The evening passed in the usual whirl of food, drink, chatter and lots of laughter...

Saturday 17 October

Siobhan cooked a full English breakfast for everyone - except Carol who we all admired tremendously for her will power in sticking firmly to her diet.

Rosemary and Carol set off to do the culture part of the trip on behalf of us all - to watch Henry V at the theatre and Carol had a low cal ice cream. 

The rest of us dithered about for a further hour and eventually got organised enough to go into Stratford for a look around Anne Hathaway's cottage.  

A bit of a tenuous link and not much actually there but we had a good wander round the house and garden and we eventually settled down to a cup of tea and a slice of cake in the tea rooms...

... Much to the amusement of the couple at the next table who must have thought that they were eavesdropping on a fifth year (Yr 11 in modern talk) outing as we reminisced about teachers, school and our trip to Stratford in 1973!

We had decided to up the ante on the culture levels and bought a book which gave a short synopsis on each of Shakespeare's plays.  We duly studied Henry V which seemed to consist of a dim heir to the throne, a few courtiers trying to wind him up, a bit of a love interest to unite England and France - and a box of tennis balls.

We then decided to stun Carol and Rosemary into speechless wonderment by learning one of the quotes from the play!  It took 7 of us memorising a few words each (memory is not good at this age!) but we did it - and practised it through out the day at intervals. 

Having assured Rosemary that we wouldn't get into a boat without her we then broke that promise (sort of) by going for a short walk and then taking the tiny chain ferry back across the river.

Our short walk included a re-enactment of a couple of photos from our last visit to Stratford - firstly with me standing in for Ann Fenwick...

... and then Sue doing the same for the second picture.

Carol and Rosemary emerged from the theatre totally enthused about the play they had seen.  We plied them with intelligent questions but were soon rumbled...

Some stayed to watch the rugby in the pub and others went back but it was soon time for another meal - to be followed by our superbly acted rendition of Shakespeare's famous quote...

Then we gave a rousing rendition of  'Happy Birthday' to Siobhan who was the first of our gang to reach the big 60.  Janice had made the most wonderful cake for her - with a beautiful icing quilt draped across it!  

Thank you Janice - great cake!!

Sue enjoyed her wine...

Then it was time for games.  What can I say about that?!..  Well what can anyone say about Rosemary's charade enactment for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?..  It is one of those moments which will be recorded in the annals of time and at all future gatherings we will say 'Do you remember Rosemary's charade?...'

A special moment indeed - every one of us bellowing with laughter, tears streaming down our faces and sides virtually splitting - we had several such moments!

Sunday 18 October

Sally once again cooked deliciously creamy and decadent scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.  

It is fast becoming her signature dish and we will expect her to cook it at every gathering - even though she doesn't like it herself!!


An intrepid few set off on a short walk - it had to be short as we had crafty things to do before some of the party had to make their way home.

So - craft-of-the-day was Christmas wreaths... 

Some tied with strips of material round coat hangers and others stuffed fabric rings with foam. 

These were then decorated with stars or robins or polar bears.  And they all looked surprisingly effective which was a bonus. 


But there was a lot of mess...

Those that had to work the following day had their final meal of left overs, did their packing, said their goodbyes and set off homewards.

We were left with a select band of four - me, Sue, Rosemary and Sally so we had a quiet afternoon.  Rosemary went for a snooze, Sally read the papers, I sewed and Sue decided to make one of the polystyrene wreaths which we'd not had time to experiment with beforehand. 

It turned out surprisingly well so it was a shame that we hadn't used them - but there's always next year!

After all the delicious but rich food we decided to have banana butties and toast for tea - very nice too.

Monday 19 October

Rosemary and Sally both needed to leave quite early so once they had gone Sue and I did the final bits of tidying up.

Siobhan had already texted to say that she had left a full bag of stuff behind and could it be ferried over to Retford at some point.  We then found a pair of boots in the lounge which eventually proved to belong to Rosemary.  More arrangements were made for them to go to Siobhan's (with the other bag) so that she could take them 'dahn sarf' when she was next on business there.  

There was then another message from Trisha to say that she had left her wreath behind and could that be delivered/picked up at some point.  Once again Sue took control and put it on her list for Retford delivery to Trisha's mum (easier option while she was doing her other errands!)

All done and dusted - until we came to the key count.  Three keys out but only two back in.  Yet another message on Facebook to find out who still had the key in her pocket!  It was Sally.  More arrangements made so that she could post it directly back to the accommodation.

And that was that!

Sue and I did a final check, locked the door and set off for a well earned lunch in Stratford before the drive back.

Time had flown but what a lovely weekend once again.  

See you soon gals!