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14th April - Kirsty was true to her word because she is finding it so difficult to eat any solids, and so we went to the shop and she bought baby food jars and Farley's Rusks!She found the baby porridge very gloopy and sweet (strange as its baby food and so you wouldn't think they would add sugar), the chicken and pasta with peach was horrible and the Rusks delicious!!The main thing is that at least she has something she can eat now until the swelling in her mouth goes down.
15th - Ralph went up to Newcastle to see what he has been missing at work while he's been away and had a bit of a nostalgic time hearing all their news; not nostalgic enough that he wanted to give up travelling and go back just yet! Still it was good to see his colleagues and disappointing to hear that so many people have left or are leaving, so probably won't be there when we return. After that he went to see Darran (who we stayed with in North Carolina for Thanksgiving), to retrieve a suitcase that he brought back for us and to catch-up on his news. Unfortunately Darran was on-call with work and was called away just before Ralph got the chance to make it 2-0 on the pool table!Kirsty spent the day seeing relatives with her mum, thinking the fresh air might do her illness some good, as she has now been holed up in the house for a week.They visited her Uncle Barry (who collected us from the airport), her cousin Lisa (who is storing the majority of our furniture and stuff for us in their house at the moment) and her Uncle David and Auntie Doreen.It was nice to see them all, especially as its now time for us to seriously think and discuss leaving for the next part of our trip around Europe. That evening Kirsty went to see Barnsley v. Hull at Oakwell. It was a cold night and halfway through the game we were treated to hailstones. Barnsley played badly and the final result was 3-1 to Hull, but the highlight was having her picture taken on the pitch with the Barnsley mascot Toby Tyke!!
16th - Kirsty is feeling a little better today (the fresh air she got yesterday obviously did her some good) and so we set off to go to Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield to buy some things she needs for her weekend away, including Wellingtons.Although she already has some she cannot find them at the moment as our stuff is divided between three houses.On the way there we decided to drive past the shopping centre and go to Ralph's parents in Nottingham to see if we could save any money and find the missing items there.After a catch up with Ralph's parents and a check in the loft which bore no fruit, we drove back to Meadowhall and had a good look around the shops.Kirsty couldn't find anything she needed for the weekend but she did manage to spend a fortune in French Connection and Miss Sixty on a not needed but lovely new dress and top!
17th - We travelled down to Nottingham as we are staying at Ralph's parents house tonight.After putting up the airbed ready for later we set off to Worcester to see our dear friend, Andy Schwab, 'thesping it up' in The Swan Theatre, where he had two large roles and a smaller role in a production of Titanic - The Musical. On the way we called in to see Ralph's sister and brother in law, Helen and Paul, who live in Astley Burf.We were only able to spend half an hour with them but it was a lovely catch up as we had not seen them since we had returned.As a sworn enemy of Leonardo di Caprio and lifetime loather of Kate Winslet, Ralph wasn't too excited about the Musical, apart from seeing Andy's musical debut. But, after a few beers and the anticipation of seeing Schwabby again, we can honestly say that the musical, and especially Andy's acting, were really good. The part of the Major was totally made for Andy, and totally fabulous!It was also great to see his parents, brother and sister in law, who just happened to be watching the performance on the same night.The next time we see them may be Andy's wedding next May!We stayed behind afterwards for a couple of drinks with Andy and chatted to a few of the cast (including a really lovely guy called Andrew Rawle who we thought was fabulous) and had a really good time, before heading back up to Nottingham for a late finish to the day.
18th - We had a quiet morning at Ralph's parents before Kirsty set off to Peterborough to stay at her friend Claire's ready for the weekend.She arrived at about 5 p.m. and then they headed out with Claire's boyfriend James to McDonald's on the way to see their friend Dawn in a production of Jekyll & Hyde - The Musical in Melton Mowbray.The production was fabulous and totally professional - like watching a top class London production.The songs were really catchy and really enjoyable.After the show we headed back to Adam and Dawn's house for a cup of tea and a catch up and Kirsty really enjoyed seeing her old university housemate Adam again and his wife Dawn (who he met at university).They have both recently lost loads of weight and looked fabulous!
19 - Ralph headed into Nottingham to see his beloved Nottingham Forest play already relegated Luton. He met up with a friend, Darryl, that he hadn't seen since University (Kirsty found him on facebook while we were in the states) and after a few beers in Hooters they went to watch a dreadful game of football. The only redeeming factor about the game was that Ralph had a fiver on a dull 1-0 result which paid for his ticket and lunch. It was good to see Darryl again, who doesn't seem to have aged at all in ten years, and we have decided to go to Wembley if Forest make it to the playoff final. With today's result we are 3 points from automatic promotion with two games left! After a quick turnaround, Ralph was back out in Hucknall with another friend, Jon, who gave him a real caning at snooker and pool.Kirsty meanwhile was in Peterborough with Claire and, after collecting their other friend Libby, they drove three hours to Stroud in Gloucestershire to stay at their friend Emma's.She lives in a lovely flat in an old listed building with lots of character and soon their other two friends, Jo and Emma-Jayne arrived with Emma-Jayne's 22 month old son Archie.It was great fot all the university Flat 22 girls to be together again (the last time was at Libby's wedding in September) and we had loads to talk about.Emma's poor husband Richard had to confiscate himself to the study just to get out of the way!!After lots of chat and playing with the train set acquired for Archie to play with, we ordered a fabulous takeaway from the local Balti house and chatted well into the evening.Kirsty and Jo then went to their hotel for the evening while the rest of the girls stayed with Emma in the flat.
20th - Kirsty and Jo headed back to Emma's flat and then all the girls went for a walk in the local area, across train tracks, through fields and eventually to a lake where Archie was able to feed the ducks and to a play area where the girls took more advantage of the swings and seesaw than Archie!!!We then headed out for Sunday lunch and had a great carvery before all setting off back home, tired but after having a great weekend.Kirsty and Claire dropped Libby off and spent some time with her and her husband Mark before heading back to Claire's.She then went to the lovely local pub for a couple of drinks before heading back to Claire's to spend the rest of the evening watching a DVD.Ralph spent the day in Nottingham and went out for Sunday lunch with his parents. This long weekend was probably the longest time he's spent with his family since leaving Nottingham over ten years ago and he really enjoyed spending some time there again.
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