After seeing Ray only last Friday he rang the following Wednesday to ask if “we were free on Burns Night”, which happened to be the Thursday. He put the phone down and then rang back a few minutes later ask about our availability for a late Burns Night on the Saturday. We said yes.
We arrived promptly at Jane’s house to be greeted by Ray and Jane and ushered into their front lounge. After all the times we have visited this property we have never been invited into the lounge. The walls, ceiling and beams are all painted white. On the walls you’ll also find many paintings. I presume their are all painted by Ray, although I never examined them all commented. Perhaps I should have pointed out my favourite among the numerous images around us.
At the back of the room in the bay sat a grand piano. The lid stood open and music sheets lay around. The wood of the polished piano glowed in the room lighting a mid-brown. Nobody mentioned the piano or who played it or even if we would have a performance. It just sat there ignored.
We chatted and I sat with my pleasant glass of whiskey. I noticed at one point that Jane had not spoken for awhile and so I asked her about her local church group. I know she is an enthusiastic member. I think this ice-breaker freed her up because she played a lively part in our discussions for the rest of the evening.
Ray seemed to have been the main chef for the evening. We began the meal with a traditional Scottish soup made from smoked haddock which had plenty of flavour and then came the haggis. I popped into the kitchen where Ray plated up the meal. The dish came in three layers; potato, swede and then haggis. On top of this small pile of food Ray poured a creamy sauce. I had another whiskey to accompany the food.
We chatted awhile over the final course and then adjourned back to the lounge. We found no shortage of conversation. We all deplore the current conservative government so that’s something we can all agree on. Jane talked about her favourite physiotherapist amongst other things. I brought up our trip to the Arebyte and White Cube Galleries which only interested two of us.
We closed the proceedings around 10:30 after I mentioned that we were close to my bedtime.
Sunday 28th January
Matt and I agreed to meet with wives at the Queen’s Head in Chesham for a walk and lunch. Matt booked the table for 2 pm and we both arrived at the scheduled time of 11:30 parked and set off. Because of the recent rain we had chosen a route Matt had sent me for shareyourroute.com, called Mud Free Walk. The path is 80% along tarmac roads with a little stretch across some fields. Normally it would take 2 ½ hours but we took a slight detour which extended the walk by another 15 minutes.
Just as with any other stroll with Matt and Helen the party splits into pairs based on sex. So I accompanied Matt and Maggi walked with Helen. Matt and I chatted about his recent birthday/Christmas present, a visit to the Red Bull factory. I was surprised by the £300 cost of this two hour tour. He waxed lyrical about all the technology involved, including the 3-D printers at a million pounds a shot, how the car was painted with the logos, the massive screens and how they monitored the cars during the race.
The sun shone throughout our stroll but of course that meant that we needed to be wrapped up well to keep out the cold. But I prefer this type of weather to wet and warm. On the route we saw the first signs of new life springing from the ground, with snow drops and the first green shoots of the daffodils. No new leaves on the deciduous trees, but that will surely come soon.
We arrived back at the crowded Queen’s Head and found our table. I ordered the drinks and the charming waitresses took our order for food. I choose the Pad Tai with tofu. It tasted good and was only £13. After another half pint we parted.