Almost at the end of the holiday

 Well, I'm counting down the days now until my return to work, and the onset of Autumn. Ho-hum...

So far we've been to some excellent restaurants and less illustrious yet still wonderful eateries over the last month.

Today, the Memsahib has had to stay close to home, as she has a rather important meeting to chair, what with the recent election etc, so we slummed it and went for a lunch with a traditional British seaside vibe.

I had a rather excellent prawn salad, with gorgeously freshly boiled prawns and a simple but equally fresh salad:

It transpires that my wife has never tried a Knickerbocker Glory, that quintessentially English seaside treat, which if done properly, is both healthy and an artery-clogger in the same glass. I have not had one for well over 40 years and my month-long childood holidays on the coast. So it was decided that we should indulge ourselves.

I was not disappointed:

Neither was the Memsahib...

After the great game on Sunday, I was out in the games room at 6AM yesterday, clearing away and changing the table to suit the soon-to-be-upon-us Autumn:

That done, it was into smart casual attire, a quick squirt of reassuringly expensive cologne, and off to Baslow and the Cavendish Hotel for lunch with a wonderful three courses of vodka cured trout with pickled cucumber followwd by pan seared sea bream with tenderstem, potatoes and a stunningly simple lemon flesh and butter sauce, polished off with English strawberries, strawberry sorbet and thick vanilla cream. 10/10 for that delightful ensemble.

This was followed with a little retail therapy to aid digestion and the acquisition of a rather butch scarf with which to accessorise my wardrobe:

The evening was spent in the lower of the two garden, amidst flickering lanterns and fluttering pipistrelles, just savouring a late Summer nightfall.

I allowed myself a lie-in until 06:40 as a reward for the late night, and was then making hard decisions on where I'll take my hobby once the last few fantasy are completed.

After much deliberation, I have decided with War Of The Spanish Succession. I had considered the Irish Jacobite option and the Great Northern War as well as the 80 Years War, but as Roger no longer has an interest in gaming with me, and my other gaming buddies have an allergy to tight hose and men with sticks, that was kaiboshed at about 3AM as I lay there, contemplating the night.

I commissioned my painter of choice for historical stuff today, to put together an initial collection of 40 battalions of foot and about 40 squadrons of horse with a rolling commissio to supply an additional 12 units per year thereafter, allowing a steady increase in my collection with lots of variety.

Wellm, if you will excuse me, time is passing and my coffee is getting cold.

TTFN