7th February
The road outside the gates to the Manor was like a sheet of glass this morning. Spencer was out at the crack of dawn with a shovel and a brush clearing the ice away to ensure that our farm vehicles could get through. I let him get on with it whilst I supervised the advanced preparation of food for our visitors coming next weekend. Readers will recall that Spencer’s brother and his wife are coming from the West Country to watch Marcus in the Gondoliers.
Some time later Spencer appeared at the back door ruddy faced with the exertion of clearing the ice, yet with a smug look on his face. Apparently our neighbour had been attempting to drive his wife to the station as she had got tickets to see Dancing on Ice in London. I avoided saying the obvious. Their car had got stuck across the road and Spencer, helpful as always, had offered to help. I asked him how he had managed to do that (my hands covered in flour from the baking), and he replied that he had used a bag of sand in front of the car wheels. Warning bells started ringing. I asked him where he had found the sand and he said that he had used the bags from the outhouse. I sighed deeply. Those were the special bags of sand that I had been concocting with secret ingredients, in which to grow my extra long carrots and parsnips for the Village Show. There is no way that I will beat Jeff Owen now as you cannot get sand and grit for love nor money anywhere. Spencer sloped off looking sheepish.
14th February (Valentine’s Day)
Spencer and I exchanged Valentine’s gifts and cards, and I hastened downstairs to get on with organising the preparations for lunch. Spencer seemed less than enamoured with the silk tie that I had bought him, but I explained that it matched the suit he had just bought for our Silver Wedding.
The West Country branch of the Halt side of the family arrived in time for lunch. Marcus had already departed for the Haymarket Theatre for the matinee performance of the Gondoliers as it took some time to do his hair and make-up, I understand. Funny that, because it is unusual for his hair to see a comb at all at any other time.
The rest of us had a relaxed dinner and retired to the drawing room to catch up on all the family news. I gave out the invitations to our Silver Wedding celebration, and was even persuaded to show them my new outfit which I have bought for the event. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Spencer’s eyebrows lift slightly as he saw the name on the bag. Regular readers will recall that I too managed to get a bargain in the sales after Christmas, but I felt there is no need to let Spencer in on that bit of information.
After a quick tea, it was time for us to get ready to go to the theatre. Spencer backed the Bentley out and we parked up at the Red Lion and walked through to the Haymarket. After pre-show drinks in the bar, we made our way to our seats. I noticed that one of our local MP’s was in the seat behind us, and I gave him a little wave. The orchestra struck up and we were entertained for two hours by the most wonderful performance of singing and dancing. The costumes were a lovely silver grey in colour (not unlike my own outfit for my Silver Wedding), and at the end we made our way round to the stage door to congratulate Marcus on his performance. He was off to the after-show party, so we made our way back home with the songs still ringing in our ears. Next year, Basingstoke Amateur Operatic Society is doing Hello Dolly! So make a note and get your tickets early, because after this performance, I guarantee it will be a sell out.