Photos you like: May 2015

Luke laughing at the balls

Slightly different this time as I am adding an account of our four day break.

Thursday 14^th May we drove to Hampshire, the weather was atrocious; when we left home it was light rain but from Swindon on the rain was really heavy and didn’t stop until 6pm. We made for Rosemary, my sister’s first and spent almost 3 hours with her, before driving on down to Lee on Solent, stopping at the Abbey garden centre for coffee which was probably the most expensive and unpleasant cup of coffee we have had in a long time. £2.50 and it was very strong and not very hot. We arrived at Leeward house and were soon settled into room 3 which was the same room we’d had last August. We would have liked to have walked down to the sea but it was still raining and didn’t stop until gone 6pm so we sat reading and checking e mails on our IPads, having free WiFi there. In the evening we walked to the fish and chip shop which has a restaurant and had a very nice fish and chips, they didn’t have the standard size (they do small, standard and large) so they were offering a free drink, coffee, tea etc with a small plate. We actually ordered a glass of wine to go with ours and the small size turned out to be larger than I could manage with a huge amount of chips. It was very nicely cooked and the batter was light and crisp. We walked out to look at the sea afterwards, it was very windy and not very warm so we didn’t go far. We stood and watched the flame burning over at Fawley.

Friday 15 May. For breakfast Tony had the full English which was huge, two pieces of bacon, two chipolatas, one egg, one hash brown, mushrooms and half a tomato and beans. I had two fried eggs on toast. After that we drove to Gosport and parked the car before making our way to the ferry to Portsmouth. When we left home there was a bright blue sky but by the time we reached the ferry it was solid cloud. We were really lucky as, as we left the pontoon we could see two Royal Naval ships coming into port side by side, quite an unusual sight for us these days so I took loads of photos. As we docked in Portsmouth we could see that one was a frigate and one a destroyer, we found out later that the destroyer was HMS Dauntless and the frigate was HMS Kent they had both been away for around 6 months. It took me back to waiting for Tony’s ship to return to Plymouth when he was on HMS Eagle. As the ships passed we could see the ships’ companies lining the decks. After taking a few more photos we walked on to Gunwharf Quays, the shopping centre. We first had a cup of coffee before wandering around taking photos. We stood and watched a man abseiling down the Spinnaker, then looked over at several high masted ships. Before visiting the shops we walked round and took photos over to Old Portsmouth and back to Gosport. We bought a couple of things in M&S and each bought a pair of shoes in the Clarks outlet shop.

I don’t know if it is because the population is getting older but wherever we go we seem to either see an ambulance outside shops, or paramedics, or both and, several times including today we have seen paramedics working on people who have collapsed. We didn’t know what had happened this time but it looked serious with a male lying obviously unconscious at the base of an escalator. We didn’t see how old he was and will probably never know if he just collapsed or fell but, poor fellow, it didn’t look very hopeful for him.

We walked back and caught the ferry back to Gosport. There were excited children on board, one wearing her daddy’s sailor hat and ‘helping’ with his case. Several families of the sailors who had just returned on the ships we saw earlier.

In Gosport we went to Wetherspoons and had a drink, coke for Tony as he was driving and wine for me and we shared a small bowl of spicy prawns, as that was all we wanted. We then drove back to the Guesthouse and had a rest for half an hour. While looking out of our window, which overlooked the back garden, with its lovely big goldfish pond, we spotted a large Grey Heron which was obviously eyeing up the fish. Before we went out we told the lady who had called in to see to the washing and she contacted the gardener to cover the pond with the net. I did manage to get some photos of the heron though. We walked down to the sea front and I took a few photos but it was very grey and cold so we returned to the guesthouse which I actually found quite cold this time. The owner was away on holiday, he had two ladies who came to let people in, do the washing, clean the rooms, cook breakfast etc but the heating was off and it was quite cold so I felt it should at least be on low. We walked back to the guest house and the heron was re-visiting so I took more photos as he walked across the netting looking most puzzled as to how he should get to the fish. There were also a pair of Mallard ducks that obviously live on the pond, no chicks though. and a G&T (which we took with us) before walking down the road to the High street for a meal at Sapori, an Italian restaurant that we had eaten in last year. We were lucky to get a table as we hadn’t booked and they are always very busy we shared a prawn starter with a chilli sauce which was very spicy, then I had Fusilli with funghi in a cream sauce, Tony had sea food pizza then we shared tiramisu which was nice but not as nice as the one we had in Spain. We also had a half litre of the house red. We both enjoyed our day and the food very much.

Saturday 16 May dawned bright and sunny with a lovely blue sky. We both had a full English breakfast but I chose not to have either bacon or sausages and Tony didn’t have bacon, we knew this would set us up and we wouldn’t have to look for somewhere to eat lunch. After breakfast we went out for a walk along the sea front walking from the centre of Lee almost to Hill head, reaching Monks Hill. It was a lovely day for a walk sunny with a breeze and lots of people were out walking. Lee has a no cycling law on the promenade which is good. Although there were a few youngsters and one adult who didn’t seem able to read. We went back to the guesthouse to take the paper back we’d bought, had a rest then walked up the road to a pub with the delightful name of The Bun Penny. It was so sunny and warm, where sheltered from the wind, that we sat in the garden with a glass of wine and some spicy prawns and garlic bread, these were a bit more mild than the ones we had the previous evening. There were lots of families out for lunch and the pub seemed very popular. As we had thought about eating there in the evening we booked a table, she actually had trouble fitting us in but managed a table at 7.30.

We walked back down to the front after we finished our drinks and bought an ice cream and sat eating them before walking along in the opposite direction from this morning. We found a seat and sat watching a yacht race for about an hour in the sun. Walked back then to the guest house as it was time to pack our cases again. After a last G&T (Just about had enough), we walked to the Bun Penny for our meal. We shared a small cajun calamari starter, then Tony had steak and Ale pie and chips and veg. and I had fillets of sea bass on potato and spring onion mash with samphire and a salsa tomato dressing. Very nice but very filling, then we share ice cream and we also had a bottle of wine. A nice meal to end our stay in Lee on Solent. The restaurant was fully booked and they were turning people away so it was a good job we booked.

Sunday 17^th May. After another full English, choosing the same components as yesterday, we drove to Swaythling to see Bex, Chris and Luke. Greg and Izzy arrived at the same time, a coincidence as they didn’t know what time we were arriving. Luke spotted us as we went in the door and favoured us with a big smile and a wave. Now he is walking he is a proper little boy, not a baby any more. He is still very good tempered and amuses himself chattering away in his own language. We spent about 3 hours with them chatting and playing with Luke, his favourite game of the moment is an empty paddling pool filled with his coloured balls. Our job was to throw them back in the empty pool when he threw them out. We left at 1.15 and an hour and a half later we were home. Soon unpacked and sitting down with a cup of tea. We enjoyed the break, the area is very nostalgic to us. And, of course it was great to see grandchildren and partners and Luke.