The Woking Mansion stay

We were quite sad to leave the genial company of Clive and the eccentric company of his wife Jean and once again our drive to "Guildford" aka Worplesden but really Woking was uneventful thanks to my first class navigator except, yet again, within sight of our goal, we thought we were lost and phoned Cousin Sue for directions. We weren't and were soon at their wonderful home set in three and a half acres of beautifully maintained gardens, lawn and woodland. Sue was very welcoming and it turned out that the two Sues got on like a house on fire. So often did I hear them cackling with laughter that I offered them parts in the next production of MacBeth. Cousin Sue managed to back her Land Rover into the painter's car in her own driveway smashing a tail light....women drivers!
Roger has done very well for himself and our accommodation was of the six star hotel variety but the most important things were the love and friendship of Cuz Sue. She and her namesake managed to shop up a small storm in Guildford and we had some tasty meals out. I was as patient as Christ's donkey while they shopped and shopped. The Sahara boutique (sale!!!) was very grateful for their patronage and Sue got her much sought after new handbag for £15 instead of USD700 (in Singapore). However, Cuz Sue like Lucifer, tempted her yet again and on Sunday, they swanned off to the factory outlets town of Bicester in Oxford which I passed up and stayed home to watch the cricket and football. A pair of Jimmy Choo shoes reduced to £330 nearly found their way into my Sue's shopping bag but my warnings and her great self-control prevented a disaster.
On Friday,we drove to Chertsey to visit my old school. Sadly for me the only intact piece of nostalgia was of the railway bridge to the playing fields which were as lovely as ever in the September sunshine. The school buildings have been sold to a Christian communityand were off limits and the rest of the school grounds have been ruined by the ugliest school buildings I have ever had the misfortune to see. Only the old ambulacrum was still there albeit refurbished. Was it Tom Wolfe who wrote "You can't go back". I was glad that I had been back but sad at the state of the place.
Food again, Cuz Sue's home cooking was very tasty but on Saturday night we visited a one Michelin star restaurant close by called Drakes. Very nice indeed, good food and with service I have never seen in Oz except at the Regent in Sydney 15 years ago. We ate out again on Sunday night after the girls' shopping trip to Bicester where Roger bought a great Bose sound system for his study. Roger has 3000 bottles in his cellar and Sue has so much food in the pantry and the fridges that I told her to invite us again along with Suzanne and Al, John and Julie and the boys and Cyn and Roel and not to buy any more food. That way, after say a month, she would actually be able to get into her pantry and Roger might be able to buy some more wine. (See later). On Monday, Sue and I trained to London to Waterloo....what a change...the we wandered over to Festival Hall and finally to the London Eye and camera time. The Eye was a pleasant experience so we continued in this vein by taking a Thames River cruise....wonderfully interesting and very relaxing. The banks of the river are of course the repository of some of the greatest historical events in London's history, plus we got a better look at "The Gherkin" where Roger has his office.
I stayed in town to meet Roger for a wine tasting at Berry's, one of the oldest wine mercahnts in London and Sue returned to Woking where she did not take up the offer of a lift home by her namesake and chose the 20 minute walk instead. The pavement is very, very narrow on this winding country road and she chose to walk on the unpaved side facing oncoming traffic. This was almost her undoing because a fox ran out of the bushes and almost bowled her over before taking off at a great rate running in front of a chasing car! All survived. Roger and I trained back quite late, he having spent another small fortune on five cases more to add to his growiing pile. I think I convinced him to auction off 1000 bottles because that would give him some room as well as return some capital to his wine fund.
Again we departed with sadness to return to Market Bosworth as we had really enjoyed our stay with Sue and Roger.