Friday and it is the morning of watching Wales throw away their world cup chances by losing to Iran 2-0 and getting ready to drive to the Forest of Dean to see my youngest daughter and her fiancé. The dilemma was whether to buy wine gums for the journey or not. Having fulfilled the post football chores like feeding the hedgehog and filling the bird feeders I walked to the shop and got my driving wine gums. I had been reassured by a friend that the car was “a safe space” when it came to wine gums. Provisions acquired I load the car and my partner, and I set off for the Forest.
The drive was a good one for the distance with bright slanty sunshine in my eyes most of the way and only minimal delay due to road works on the M5. we have one stop for a pee and then drove on to arrive about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. We were greeted with coffee and time to catch up before our evening meal of chicken and chorizo with mash, a good warming autumnal meal. Soon after we drove to the local cinema, which is an incredibly quaint old-style cinema run as a private one as the owner just wants to be a cinema owner. There are no more than 10 of us in to watch the film on a Friday night. I sat through Black Panther Wakanda Forever for its 160+ minutes with luxury leg room. The comfort and the popcorn were excellent. The film was a disappointing follow up to the original and smacked of a girlie version for the sake of it. Most of the men in the film were portrayed as either power driven Neanderthals or weak ineffectual men, but then that’s a common trend across all media at the moment. We returned home to bed down for the night with me and partner snuggled under double duvets. By the end of the day, I am spoonless having driven so I was glad to get to bed.
Saturday and I wake to morning meds and black coffee. I get up slowly and make myself a second coffee before I join the rest of the household in the kitchen. We have croissants and fresh coffee and plan our day. We decide to visit a butterfly zoo and so we pile into a car and drive to Symonds Yat. We arrive at the zoo and get into the viewing area and find ourselves surrounded by beautiful butterflies. What follows is a sample of my photos and if the technology allows my new discovery of super slow motion.
When we are all butterflied out, we return to the car and drive to the Forest of Dean Heritage centre. We arrive at ten minutes past two o’clock to find they stopped doing food at 2 o’clock. Grumpily and disappointed we return home and eat sandwiches and coffee in the comfort of home. I start to draft the blog for the last two days before we get ready to go out for a good pub meal this evening at the Dog and Muffler. I anticipate an evening of good food, conversation, games and finally bed.
