Welcome to Bures!

Justin and I had our very first American guest this past weekend! It all started with that little networking service, Facebook. What a way to connect and reconnect with people from all aspects of our lives.

Chris in the Sun Inn in Dedham

Chris found me on Facebook a few months back - 19 years after we graduated from Castleton State College. The craziest thing is, we hadn't even spoken since graduation. And, no, it was not awkward one little bit...Yes, there was a lot to catch up on and we had less than 24 hours to cover 19 years. Three pubs, a couple steak and ale pies, multiple cups of coffee and a few of my homemade biscotti encouraged us to keep the conversation going over the majority of those hours. It was amazing. Chris is exactly how I remember him! We laughed just as much and probably about a lot of the same people and things from school. We reminisced, had new stories and experiences to share, but mostly we became friends all over again. And I know Justin is happy to have made a new friend. I'll tell you something; it was the kind of visit that made you happy during the time you had and even happier to know that both of us were willing to make the effort after so many years.

Chris, Me and Justin in front of Willy Lott's house in Flatford

So, what do you do when you only have a few hours with a long lost friend? I mean, which highlights do you choose to take them to? Justin is a fantastic guide and between the selections he gave Chris and the amount of time we actually had until his train left Colchester we decided on a nice drive to Dedham, lunch at the Sun Inn (AMAZING!) and the incredible walk to Flatford - the heart of Constable Country.

Dedham Church

Someone to greet us on the footpath in Dedham on the way to Flatford

Wisteria still in bloom in Flatford

Essex Food Show

Today Claire and I went to the Essex Food Show in Cressing Temple and Oh My God was it a delicious and entertaining day!!!

One of the medieval barns at Cressing Temple: Outside and In

To begin with, Cressing Temple is a fantastic place in so many ways. An ancient monument with origins going back to the 12th century, it is home to two Templar barns as well as many other farm buildings including a granary and bakehouse among many more. The medieval barns are absolutely stunning and all of the buildings are in impecable condition. This is definitely a place I will visit again and be sure to bring all of my visitors!

The Bakehouse Oven at Cressing Temple

The Food Show was the other amazing part of the day. There were nearly 130 vendors selling everything from meat pies and puddings to smoked cheese and olives to beer and wine and all kinds of breads and pastries. We tried many cheeses and olives, a goats milk ice cream and my first ever proper steamed suet meat pudding!!!

My favorite flavors of the entire day were the smoked cheddar and goat's cheeses and a not overly hoppy beer brewed by Humpty Dumpty Brewery, The King John. My evening was wrapped up with a pork pie with brie and cranberry with some smoked cheddar and a smoked olive tapenade.

May Bank Holiday Monday

Yesterday was May Bank Holiday Monday. The Thatcher's Arms, a freehouse in Mount Bures, hosted a farmers' market and dog show. Claire, Justin and I walked up with Chaga to check out the scene and enjoy a pint. We each had a Golden Duck ale and Chaga and I entered two competitions, the "look alike" competition and the "don't take the biscuit" competition. We didn't do well in the look alike category as there was some pretty stiff compeition. However, since Chaga is well known for not accepting dog biscuits, especially the dry, tasteless sort, we figured we'd have that one in the bag!

This is us getting into position for the "don't eat the biscuit" competition...

Each "handler" (that's me!) was given a dog biscuit (we lucked out with the dry, tasteless kind!) to show our dog. We then were asked to place the biscuit on the ground in front of the dog and were given 15 seconds to convince the dog not to take the biscuit. After 15 seconds, the dogs were on their own! The judges then walked up and down the line of compepitors to see how each one was handling the temptation.

Victory!!! She won! And, to top if off, you can see how UNimpressed she was with the biscuit. We returned the biscuit and forfitted the prize - an enormous bag of the same dry biscuits!

Later we saw a huge Irish wolfhound walking away with the giant bag of biscuits. At least someone would enjoy them!

1st BBQ of the Year

On Sunday we had our very first BBQ of the year. Claire, James, Sarah and Becky came over. Justin spent most of the day pretending to be a spy with Chay but the two of them paused the game for a short while to eat and get in this picture! The BBQ was complete with cheeseburgers, sausages, Thai peanut noodle salad, tortilla chips, salsa and blood orange margaritas! It was a great day that we wrapped up with chocolate truffles and coffee. Mmmmm, mmmm, good. There's nothing like the very first BBQ!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday marked the beginning of spring for me. Justin, Chay and I had Claire, James and Gilly over for the day. I made the traditional Ham and Egg Pie and Claire and I put together an increadible spread. We gorged ourselves silly and wrapped it all up with a cheesecake with raspberry and chocolate sauces.

Before gorging ourselves on all of the delicious food we took a fantstic walk through the three parishes of Bures, Bures Hamlet (where we live), Mount Bures and Bures St. Mary. We call it the Mount Bures Walk! It's amazing what you can get people to do just by asking.

As part of the fun, I asked everyone to pretend to be chickens.

Then I had us all pretend we were bunnies!

Toward the end of our walk we came across these three donkeys. They were sooo sweet!

The End. Happy Easter!