Normal Service....

....is now being resumed!

This morning I caught the early bus into Hereford with my mum and left her at the train station, on the first leg of her journey back to Cyprus. This time she's got tickets to Birmingham International station, rather than getting off the train at Birmingham New Street and getting a taxi to the airport! This morning we were crossing our fingers that Monarch Airlines would have at least one more day's trading so they could get home!

Even though mum was here for two weeks, we didn't get to sample all the eateries in Hay, although she and Kevin went into Eve's so often they gave her a loyalty card! Kevin liked the espresso, and mum liked the blueberry muffins.

We treated ourselves to a meal in Red Indigo twice, though perhaps the first Saturday evening after they re-opened was not the best time to go! They were very busy indeed - the staff must have been exhausted by the end of the night - and they were doing take aways as well. Mum really wanted an onion bhaji - not easy to find in Cyprus - and she wasn't disappointed. The rogan josh was also very nice. Eklim, the manager, saw us as we went out, and said that he would be able to give the "lovely lady" his undivided attention next time we visited - and gave us each a miniature bottle of Prosecco because of the long wait we'd had. Neither of us minded - it was nice to see the support for Red Indigo after the unfortunate incident where their window was broken.
The following Friday was not so busy, and this time we had onion bhaji and chicken boona, also very tasty.

We ate in the Blue Boar twice, as well (lovely chili). Kevin had been waiting to taste English beer again, and he really liked the Timothy Taylor Landlord there. He complains that it's all fizzy lager in Cyprus.

We also went off to Hereford for a day, shopping for things that mum can't get in Cyprus (including a pressure cooker!), and spent another day in Brecon, where I treated them to lunch at the Brecon Tap (lovely steak pie, with black pudding mashed potatoes) and topped up my supply of bottled beers, including the Discworld range. This time, I took my own beer carrier.

On the last night, I took mum down to the Three Tuns, where we had enormous pizzas!

I have to give a huge thank you to Mrs Gwynne of Belmont House. She put mum and Kevin in the cottage to the side of the house, which was originally the stables, but has been converted into bedrooms with a kitchen and lounge downstairs, and a conservatory at the back overlooking the garden.
There weren't many other guests staying there, and the ones that did were only there for a night or two, so mum and Kevin had free use of the kitchen if they wanted to cook for themselves, and use of the dining table and lounge. Mrs Gwynne even lent them some pans to cook with, and it was much better for me to go up and sit with them in the lounge - my living room is a bit cramped!
There was a TV, too - I don't have a TV, so I discovered the delights of such daytime programmes as Tipping Point, Eggheads, Flog It and a really quite interesting programme about restaurant tricks of the trade (was your cocktail mixed in a factory and delivered in a carton, or was it made by a skilled bar person in front of you?).
Mrs Gwynne also lent them a CD player so Kevin could play the CDs he got from Haystacks in Backfold - lots of Sounds of the Sixties.
Belmont House is currently up for sale - Mrs Gwynne has been running the B&B for forty years (most of that with her husband who died not long ago) and she thinks she's done it long enough!