Saturday, November 27, 2021

A Book, a Walk, a Meal


Yesterday's weather didn't turn out to be as dreadful as I feared. It was intermittently rainy and it got quite windy in the afternoon -- Storm Arwen was battering the northern part of the country -- but the sun peeked out for part of the day and Olga and I had time to escape Clamato Cottage and go for a long walk.

That's not Clamato Cottage above -- just some picturesque nearby houses.


Here's the unusual gate of another house down the street -- Rose Cottage. 


And here's the war memorial, decorated with bright new poppy wreaths for Remembrance Day just a few weeks ago.


Olga and I walked westward out of town to Braywick Park, which was looking very autumnal.


"WOULD YOU STOP TAKING MY PICTURE!"


There were several sculptures like this along the trails, known as the "Guardians of the Green Way" by Nick Garnett, according to the little plaque. (The Green Way is a network of trails between Cookham and Bray.)


Here's the outside of Clamato Cottage. This was after our walk. Olga was ready to get back to the fireplace.


Oh, and I solved my lack-of-a-coffee-mug problem! See that container, used to store the kitchen utensils? Well, it works just fine. It's a bit on the large side, so of course I don't fill it up, but a mug that's too big is better than a cup that's too small. (Don't worry -- I washed it first.)

I also did a lot of reading yesterday -- I finished "Lawn Boy," which I enjoyed a lot. I found it an interesting and compelling novel exploring class and identity, and aside from some mildly sexual and salty language it's perfectly harmless. I'm happy to add it to the library for the high-schoolers. I'm convinced the right-wingers are fired up about it mostly because they haven't read it.

Last night, Dave and I went to The Hand & Flowers, chef Tom Kerridge's pub in the nearby town of Marlow. The food was excellent. I had a duck liver parfait starter and guinea fowl entree, and Dave had a pork terrine followed by a lamb "bun" that looked like a big pear. We finished up with dessert -- a blackberry souffle with bay leaf custard and walnut ice cream (me) and to be honest I can't remember what Dave had because by that time I'd consumed three glasses of wine and wasn't paying much attention to his food.

Today, we bid farewell to Clamato Cottage. We'll be back on the train to London around lunchtime.

44 comments:

  1. I hope it’s a happy and relaxing journey home. What a beautiful place.

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    1. It's a great place for a short getaway, and it's so close to London!

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  2. It's a very nice village and I can understand the appeal to outsiders. I am not so bad at remembering my own food eaten but if someone asks me how is the wine, I've been too busy with socialising to notice. As for what others eat, I've no idea.

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    1. Yeah, I usually don't pay attention to what other people order, but Dave is the exception. (Since we usually taste each others' dishes.)

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  3. A perfect Thanksgiving getaway and for late November, the weather played ball. How far in advance did you book your table at "The Hand and Flowers"? I guess it's very popular.

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    1. It played ball until the very end, when it got quite blustery. The managers of Clamato Cottage got us into the Hand & Flowers! They have a little bit of pull, apparently.

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  4. What a picturesque village. The two restaurants or pubs sound wonderful. You also found a fantastic tree to photograph along with Olga. It looks like a great place to get away from the city, relax and eat good food.

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  5. You certainly had some amazing culinary (and alcoholic) treats on your adventure. Good for you! So glad you've had a good time.

    Smart not to try to take a Sunday train in the UK. Don't think I have ever had a successful Sunday train journey there...always so many disruptions. Once, returning to London from mid-Suffolk, the train stopped on the far outskirts of London due to "a body on the tracks." Sobering. But as the train was filled with very excited football fans on the way to a match, finding an alternate way into London took some time especially since my son and I had luggage. Eventually we shared a car service with two fellows heading to LHR for a flight back to the oil fields in the Mideast. Was quite the adventure.

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    1. Wow! That's quite a story! I think train disruption on that scale is pretty unusual. I usually don't have too much trouble getting around, even on a Sunday. Fortunately our trains yesterday ran smoothly!

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  6. I love the look of exasperation on Olga’s face as she waits for you to take the photo of the cottage!

    Now you have me wanting to read Lawn Boy. I’ll have to squeeze it in before the end of the year.

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  7. Short but sweet. So glad you got a nice get away. I love that guardian sculpture.

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    1. That was the best one. I saw two more, but that one was my favorite.

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  8. Sounds like the perfect getaway! Looks like a lovely place and the food sounds so fancy! Glad you enjoyed it!

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  9. I think you chose an excellent place to go for weekend. You had a good walk, good meal and a good book. Oh yes, you also had some good wine.

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  10. What a lovely getaway you had there.

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  11. I don't understand how anyone gets worked up about a book these days. I rarely see anyone other than myself actually reading a book or kindle. The only reading I see people attempt is Facebook!

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    1. I see people reading books on the tube, where there's no internet reception so they need something on paper.

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    2. Aah, I hadn't thought of London's tubes and there being no internet connection or cell signal. Here in the states, as you are fully aware, having a cell signal is almost a birthright no matter where you go... and thus everyone staring at their phone.

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  12. That's a great picture of Olga, the first one. Texas is so different from the UK, everything being fairly and big or small fairly spread out. No quaint villages. When I spent that 10 days in Scotland for the international artists symposium several years ago I stayed with a family in the small village and their house was also Rose Cottage. All the houses had names, not addresses.

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    1. I remember going to some communities in the hill country outside Austin that seemed very quaint! But yeah, not quite like an English village.

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  13. The Hand and Flowers - oh wow, I would like to go there someday. Where I live in West Wales to be honest the cuisine is not that great - it's all tourist pus in the summer and then often closed in the winter. Even the local seafood gets exported. Good job we can cook.

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    1. I can heartily recommend the Hand & Flowers. Probably the best "pub" food we've ever had.

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  14. It sounds like it's been a wonderful holiday with good walks, food and reading.

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  15. What a perfect get away. All of it sounds wonderful. Olga is looking lovely as always.

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  16. What a charming vacation you three had. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  17. I was getting lost in the photos until I read about the meal. Sounds amazing.

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    1. It was really incredible food, and certainly not anything we'd make for ourselves (or even routinely get in a restaurant).

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  18. Glad you were able to get away. I watch a lot of historical dramas set in England and these images look so old world and out of time to me. Lovely as always.

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    1. Bray is very much the quintessential English village. It feels like a costume drama (without the costumes).

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  19. I love that tree in the park picture. Nice photos of your getaway. It's nice to have something new to shoot sometimes, isn't it? You'd think Olga would be resigned to your camera by now . . . but hope springs eternal :)

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    1. She's resigned to it but it still annoys her. Sometimes she's more patient than other times.

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  20. The wood carved Guardian is very interesting. And the photo of Olga by the pond is wonderful. Sounds like you're ready for home. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

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  21. This sounds like a lovely holiday -- but yes, a bit odd with the mugs/cups -- or lack thereof! Olga looks glad to be home. And I love the war memorial. We don't see them like that here.

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  22. That IS strange about the lack of mugs, esp. if they provide a coffee maker, but I would have left them a little note to tell them that they need some. If they hire a cleaner, the cleaner may not have noticed the mugs had walked off.

    I love the idea of you getting so wine muddled that you stopped noticing anybody's food but your own. I'm glad that you had such a wonderful break.

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