Green tunnel

Kate and J, and our friend J, and CleanSteve and I went up to the Amberley Inn for Sunday lunch. The old inn is situated on a hill, overlooking the Woodchester Valley. We ate in the oak panelled bar, which is now nothing like a traditional bar because of CoVid. The food was excellent, as ever. I had the nut roast, because the accompanying veggies sounded good, but the actual nut roast and gravy turned out well, too. Nothing like the dried-up efforts of the 1980s that I remember so well

Later ,CleanSteve took us the Winstone's ice cream factory on Minchinhampton Common, and we all got a cone. I brought my own, because it was gluten free. They gave me a free ice cream after I mentioned that they never seemed to have gluten free cones! Not so crazy, then, am I?

CS drove home and the rest of us walked home, mainly downhill and along the canal. We passed through this leafy tunnel on our descent. On a bench by the canal we visited the magical box that's always full of free junk. I got a belt, which was handy because my trousers were too big. J got a small umbrella, and K got a multi-tool. Only the younger J remained unimpressed. I think she'd been hoping for headphones. She loves music, and probably hates hanging around with 57-year old aunties and their mates.

When we got back to the homestead, we started shifting plant pots around the garden, as part of Operation Restoration, and lopping down a bay tree. I've written more about this on Monday's blip (this is a backblip). CleanSteve was amazed and delighted. I was grateful to have such great friends and helpers, because it's so much easier to do Extreme Gardening when there's a whole gang.