Cake and Cuppa

Well, I've been back in the UK two and a half weeks already! Time flies.

Sorry for not posting much lately. Got pissed off after I accidentally managed to delete a bunch of photos. They included some stunning shots of Cold Ashby church, and sunrise at 6am. I was gutted. Did the fatal cut/paste and got distracted before pasting. Ended up copying something else and losing the data. Numpty that I am. Tried all the major data retrieval programs but none of them could access an internal memory DCIM folder *sigh*

However, just for the record, there is this - ClipDiary. Free for home use. It records every ctrl+c or x you make so that you can go back and restore it to the clipboard. Wish I'd known about that before. I'm so set in my ways, I'm sure I'm going to need it in the near future.

Anyway, lots been happening.

Went to the dentist. The dentist I had when I was a kid! Hadn't seen him in years. His clinic is reassuringly the same - even down to the fish tank in the waiting room. 

Remember that dentist in Kigali who told me I needed five fillings and a wisdom tooth removed - all with a mobile phone glued to her face? Yeah, hard to forget. Well, as I suspected, she was talking trash. Absolutely nothing wrong with my teeth. In fact, I was commended. 'Some of the best teeth I've seen this morning, and there have been some good ones,' he told me. Did the whole x-ray and everything's fine.

Blood tests came back at the Doc's, too. Malaria completely eradicated. Despite the nurse I first saw grumpily informing me 'once you've got it, you've got it for life'. This from a travel nurse. It was the case once upon a time, but nowadays medicine's come a long way.

Anyway, health intact, it was time to pack for Gloucester. Do you remember the Giant House Spider I saw the other day? Well, I met its cousin, the native British Sock Spider.

Had a fun night out on Friday at the Masonic Hall in Corby. Unexpectedly fun, actually. It was a Masonic fundraiser for whatever the cause is this year, and they did a 70s theme night with a Rod Stewart tribute act who was extremely convincing. It's one of those voices you're either born with, or hurt yourself trying. This guy had it pegged. It's an Anglo-Scottish lodge, so you can imagine - beer was drunk. Chicken 'n' chips for nosh. 

Next morning Dad and Marilyn arrived from Gloucester to reunite me with my beautiful baby blue, Kitty. Apparently two people knocked on the door whilst I was away, offering to buy her. One even left a card, just in case! Thankfully, Dad turned them down.

The reason they drove her over was so that I could drive them back - needed the moral support. It's been almost a year and a half since I drove. Merrick's taken me out a couple of times in his super amazing car, the one he bought from Hogwarts. It parks itself. Seriously. It scans the curb, identifies a parking space, then puts itself in it! Like, no hands. 

It also has cruise control and hill start assist. Both of which are seriously seductive. Though it is a bit weird having no feet on the pedals and feeling the car accelerate. Loved every minute of playing with swanky Fred, but I still love Kitty with all my heart. We're going to be doing a lot of miles together over the next few months.

We drove back to Gloucester via Bourton-on-the-Water for a quintessentially English cream tea. 

Scones with Jam and Clotted Cream

Victoria Sponge

Tea Cakes

Thought I'd died and gone to heaven when that scone hit my gob. Rwanda just doesn't really do cake. There's RZ Manna, a Korean bakery, which isn't bad. But it ain't a proper English melt-in-your-mouth tea shop. 

Then it was time for a walk along the river which gives Bourton its name.

It's also home to the Cotswald Perfumery, which stocks my favourite fragrance. A village full of quirky nostalgia, like this old ice-cream van.

Push!

Dad's really made over the garden whilst I've been away. Taken out a hedge, which makes it look much bigger, and I love what he's done with the wood piles under the benches.

Strawberry Field

Black Beans

Runner Beans

It's certainly getting colder in the UK at the moment. Currently 16c here, so I've got a jumper on. To think I spent the past couple of months of the dry season at 30c, never seeing rain... I'm just about okay at this temperature. Doing better than I expected, and there are random moments of sunshine which are quite nice. But winter is coming.

Going to rest up, buy some shoes and clothes, and prepare for a trip over to London in a couple of weeks.