New Year's Eve!

On New Year's Eve we had a lovely lazy start. Mel, Paul and I walked into the little village and bought some steak for dinner - it's Paul's and my turn to cook. A quaint tiny village, but lots here - a couple of pubs, a cricket club on the village green, a few shops. The best of English village life.
After lunch the kids all went to Anchorman II. That was fine - Paul and I spent some rare quality time together, yey!
We had a cuppa after the kids left, then walked back into the village and caught the train to Windsor. What a pretty town! Coming off the train we exited the station and there in front of us was a delightful old pub with the castle behind it. So gorgeous!
We wandered for a while, walked around the perimeter of the castle, browsed the cobbled streets and shops. Bought Mel a new coffee plunger and a meat thermometer. Finished with a glass of wine and a lovely talk at the old pub by the station, then caught the train back to Wraysbury.
Paul took care of criss-cross potatoes, an old family favourite. There was salad from last night, and I had been marinating the huge chunk of steak all day with rosemary, garlic, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar - it smelt divine! After searing it all over, into the oven it went, and time for a drink with the kids and to hear about their day. I was glad we had bought the meat thermometer, it was such a big piece of steak and at 40 quid I would have been pretty upset if I had ruined it! Some Jamie Oliver recipe gravy and dinner was ready. Loved the rave reviews! Not much left over! It felt very satisfying to be the mother figure and cook for once, although I have so enjoyed not playing that role so far in England.
After dinner we all wrapped up and walked in to the local pub, The Perseverance. We were lucky enough to find an empty table for us all, and out came the Trivial Pursuit cards. Fun! The pub is very old: beamed ceilings, open fires, rooms coming off rooms, a great intimate and laid back atmosphere. At around 11pm we went through from the 'quiet' room to where the bar and band were. A couple of guys on guitars, some boxes for drums - they were ok, but needed a little something......... That something, of course, was the contribution from the Mawhinney/Ravenscroft household. First Ali got onto a box and drummed it, then switched to guitar, then to bass. Mel was dragged up and given a mike, she had a great time! After a few songs that went down very well, Crys joined them on another mike, I was given a tambourine, and we introduced everyone to Crowded House. Such fun!!!!!
There was a large screen TV on mute that showed a huge party at Big Ben. At 12.59 the sound was turned up and we did the big countdown thing. We all joined hands and sang Auld Lang Syne, then the band got going again and we had a party! At around 2am we finished with "Show me the way to go home" - I couldn't believe my kids didn't know it, we used to sing it all the time with Pop, Gran, Graeme and me!
We wrapped up again (getting used to this lifestyle) and walked home. Time for a cuppa and then off to bed - what a fantastic evening!