Frankenstien

It's been a quiet sort of week, weather wise we have had a mixture of sunny days and cloudy ones, the temperature has dropped noticeably. Monday while Sue was ensconced in the laundry room with washing powder and book I walked along the tow path to Stone Boat Builders chandlers and returned with a new light fitting to replace the faulty one in the cratch.

Building beside Aston Lock.

During the week we have had a couple of trips out; to Mercia Marina to see their new shopping Boardwalk, it's very swish, (you can now get your nails cleaned and polished after using the elsan or changing engine oil).

There is a also new Bar & Restaurant...the prankster in me wonders what would happen if I bought a brand new loo cassette from Midland Chandlers, unboxed it and took it into the restaurant with me (perhaps half filled with fresh water for that slopping motion effect) and sat it on the table while I eat ....what would the other diners think/say?

My dinner date!

To Derby, a city we haven't visited before, it is considered to be the birth place of the industrial revolution as the first fully mechanised factory in the world was built here. Derby has some fine architecture, large square and huge shopping mall. It was tipping it down when we were there so exploration was limited and I couldn't get the camera out, below are a couple of pictures from the web.

Mercia's boardwalk shops.

Speakers corner, if you scan the QR codes underneath the faces with a smart phone you get a short video of the person speaking on a subject that interest to them, the caricatures are of real people. The one on the left talks about buses!

Friday we met up with Dot & Gordon for a £4.39 carvery at the Radford Bank Inn, excellent value. They also do an all you can eat morning breakfast for £3.99.

Saturday we teamed up with D&G again in the hunt for a pub that would be showing the England V New Zealand rugby match. Our preferred location Weatherspoons didn't have Sky TV but The Yard did so we settled in there and watched a good game with NZ narrowly beating an injury-depleted England.

In the evening we watched an excellent performance by Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein's monster at the Stafford Theatre.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Sunday we had lunch at The Holly Bush in Sieghford while Sue and Dot opted for the roast Gordon and I had Steak and Titanic ale pie, a good choice. The bread & butter pudding with custard ensured I stayed with my feet up in front of the fire the rest of the day.