Monday, November 02, 2009
Dorking Day and The Gate.
The sun has been shining! hooray!
We have been in Dorking and my walk along the High street to the post office was most pleasant.
Generally the day in the shop has been pleasant.
Sales were quite good - Bill and I took about one third of the total today. Bill sold a 1950s British rail signalling lamp and some small bits and I sold 2 red glass vases - one was Whitefriars, always collected.
A sign that maybe I am improving as a result of the tablets I am taking was that I found myself able to talk a little about how we feel we are being taken advantage of. Monika and Julie always seem to have plenty to do apart from doing things in the shop.
It seems they feel they are filling their time just because we seem to have efficiently taken over and they are put out that they are feeling redundant.
I am glad I have cleared the air.
It was very amicable and Monika and I hugged and kissed warmly at the end of the day.
Next week Bill and I will go out together for an hour. Dorking is a lovely town and West Street has many antiques shops and we have not found the time to visit any of them.
And maybe some time we could visit a pub or cafe for a lunch - though not every week.
We had a pub right next door to us in Boyden Gate, Kent.
Boyden Gate is just a little hamlet - a few houses, the farm and the pub.
The pub is popular and people travel to it for meals. It is called The Gate.
The quiz master - or mistress was a hoot! She was actually reading questions set by somebody else. 
There were some stocks out side the pub.
If we had a local like The Gate I think we would use it quite often to enjoy good food and meet friendly people.
We have been in Dorking and my walk along the High street to the post office was most pleasant.
Generally the day in the shop has been pleasant.
Sales were quite good - Bill and I took about one third of the total today. Bill sold a 1950s British rail signalling lamp and some small bits and I sold 2 red glass vases - one was Whitefriars, always collected.
A sign that maybe I am improving as a result of the tablets I am taking was that I found myself able to talk a little about how we feel we are being taken advantage of. Monika and Julie always seem to have plenty to do apart from doing things in the shop.
It seems they feel they are filling their time just because we seem to have efficiently taken over and they are put out that they are feeling redundant.
I am glad I have cleared the air.
It was very amicable and Monika and I hugged and kissed warmly at the end of the day.
Next week Bill and I will go out together for an hour. Dorking is a lovely town and West Street has many antiques shops and we have not found the time to visit any of them.
And maybe some time we could visit a pub or cafe for a lunch - though not every week.
We had a pub right next door to us in Boyden Gate, Kent.
Boyden Gate is just a little hamlet - a few houses, the farm and the pub.
The pub is popular and people travel to it for meals. It is called The Gate.
That box on the table sometimes had local apples and pears for sale. Bill bought pears.
Wednesday evenings are quiz nights.
We have never been to a pub quiz night, but thought it would be good to join in.
I was slightly nervous that it would be quite formal and began to think of what our team name would be.
But that wasn't necessary.
At just gone 9 o'clock bits of paper were handed out to each table.
Then general knowledge questions were asked in blocks of ten.
After each set we were given the answers and just like after a school test the question master would ask "Anybody with 10?" "9?" etc until we knew which table had won the round.
The winning table were then passed a bowl of jelly beans which they might have to pass to another table after the next round.
Some teams had half a dozen people and Bill and I were just a pair - but we managed to get the jelly beans once.
In the middle we were handed a sheet with pictures of celebrities and historical figures to name.
We were pretty bad at this round.
But who cares - we were having fun.
The bar was in two parts with tables and chairs both sides of the central open fire.
You can see some our fellow quiz players through the fire.
You can see some our fellow quiz players through the fire.
The quiz master - or mistress was a hoot! She was actually reading questions set by somebody else.
Half way through a question she would pause and announce "This doesn't make sense!" or "That can't be right". Often we at the tables would tell her what the question should be.
We returned on our last night for a meal.
I had the spicy bean and vegetable stew topped with chunks of grilled sausage. Bill had the mixed grill.
Of course we talked with others.
The lady I was next to had a daughter who lives in Crawley!
There were some stocks out side the pub.
If we had a local like The Gate I think we would use it quite often to enjoy good food and meet friendly people.
I have just one more day of Kent to share with you - the cottage and the farm.
