Chateau Midden Round Robin

Dear Blog-Reader
I can't believe that I'm starting to write the Christmas letter already.
It's been an interesting year, with some glamorous moments, and a
good one for meeting old friends.
The centenary Dancing England Rapper Tournament took place in Newcastle in March, organised and hosted by the Newcastle Kingsmen and Sallyport rapper sword dance teams. I was asked to help with publicity and managed to get the event on local tv and newspapers. Fester was one of the judges and spent a gruelling day in the Tanners Arms drinking lime cordial and watching dance teams. The evening do was good too. At one point the fire alarm went off and everyone had to go outside. The Fire Brigade was greeted by hundreds of sword and morris dancers singing "When the Old Dunn Cow Burnt Down". Luckily it was a false alarm.
Fester is still with the University and had two trips away. In April it was an EU Quality Low Input Food conference in Turkey: he came home with cinnamon sticks and a turtle candle holder. In September it was a PhD conference in Crete: he came home with slippers, bits of pottery and some litres of olive oil and raki. Each time he was away I took the opportunity for a day out with Pearl; first to the Laing Art Gallery and secondly the new Central Library (where we were shushed for giggling by one of the punters)and Hancock Museum (or Great North Museum as they insist on calling it now). Each time he also came back with bottles of Tia Maria and chocolates; those and a snore-free week makes his trips away a treat for me.
In June Radio 4 recorded I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in the Theatre Royal and I managed to get tickets as Fester's birthday present. The Theatre was absolutely packed and the show great fun.
In November the Kingsmen celebrated their 60th Anniversary so we both spent the day with lots of old friends from the old days. Fester was even persuaded to dance with the "70s" team in the Bridge Hotel. None of the most recent generation of Kingsmen had ever seen him dance. It was amusing to hear a wide eyed baby Kingsman exclaim breathlessly "I've seen Fester dance" as if he were some mythical beast.
1st December was Middle Sister's 60th birthday and we racked our brains for a suitable treat. Big Sister came up with the brilliant idea of tea at The Ritz. At £39 a head it was expensive but worth it. It was a complete surprise to Middle Sister, all she was told was that she had to wear something really smart. The Ritz' tea room is fantastic, all fancy plasterwork, gilt and mirrors, like a wedding cake or the Titanic before the iceberg. The waiters were all charming, attentive and mostly Italian, nothing is too much trouble for them. When we arrived they asked if it was a special occasion and Big Sister told them about Middle Sister's birthday. There was another birthday party in and when the trio (piano, viola and flute) struck up Happy Birthday a waiter appeared at our table with a little cake with "Happy Birthday" iced on it and a single candle. They even gave her a box to take it home in.
Each party has a table for two hours and they keep bringing sandwiches, fancy cakes, scones and tea until you can hold no more. Everyone gets to choose their own flavour of tea (I had Assam), with a silver teapot and very heavy strainer each. On each table there are good sized pots of clotted cream, strawberry jam and sugar lumps and in the centre a 3-tier cake stand. On the bottom there are dainty sandwiches (cucumber, smoked salmon, ham, tongue, egg and cress). In the middle warm fruit scones to go with the clotted cream and strawberry jam. On the top amazingly dainty and very rich fancy cakes. The Boyd siblings and their spouses, Niece and her Ozzieboyfriend and I did our very best to eat as much as possible but finally had to give in. Mum would have loved it and I'm sure she was there in spirit.
However, even at The Ritz there is a queue for the loo in the ladies. But I didn't really mind because they were wonderfully appointed with rolled up real towels and a hamper to toss them into, rather than the usual paper towels or horrid hot air hand-dryers.
We had our usual number of trips away with the boys: down to Wales in February, April and October; Sheffield in May; Huddersfield the first weekend of the school holidays; and London in August. All of which involved trips on various forms of public transport; vintage trains, busses and trams.
In October we stayed at a new holiday cottage at Dryslwyn Fawr, next to the Fig Tree Restaurant. It was really big and had an orchard, which Fester was allowed to remove the fallers from. As well as these 5 bags of apples he managed to blag another 5 from one of the secretaries at Nafferton Farm. We also had a decent crop of tomatoes this year. So we have been making chutneys and jelly again and the garage is once more fully stocked.
Dad is now 93 and gently fading. He is confined to a wheelchair and his memory is very poor now. Sometimes he's not sure who we are but continues to be an absolute gentleman. In February he said to me "You called me Dad then, and it seemed to fall naturally from your lips. Tell me. What are you to me?" It could have been really upsetting but he was so genteel and unworried all I could do was smile.
My resolution this year was to just go for anything I fancied doing and not worry about what people think. Consequently in September I had a trip down to Pinewood Studios to take part in a recording of The Weakest Link. I had a lovely time, a free train trip there and back and a night at Diana's. Ann Robinson is tiny, swoops in and out of the studio like a bespectacled ginger haired bat; and only speaks to the contestants when she has to. If I hadn't seen her feet moving I'd have sworn she worked on wires by remote control. The rest of the crew were really friendly though, putting us at ease and comfortable. It's to be broadcast on 6th January and I shall be watching it through my fingers.
Wishing you a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Brenda,