Much ado about nothing

At pitch dark o'clock last night, our neighbour knocked on the door to tell us that the leaves in front of our house were 'disgraceful' and that we should bag it in time for the collection in the morning. I think it was fortunate for him that I wasn't the one to answer, or I would have laughed. Talk about curtain twitching and middle class problems - some people simply have too much time on their hands. 

According to the web, the green bin collection won't resume until February anyway. His green bags are sitting outside his house, waiting for him to come home. Poor man, he's going to fume for a while.

Reminds me of 'Fall, leaves, fall' by Emily Jane Brontë.

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree. 

I shall smile when wreathes of snow

Blossom where the roses should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day. 

We haven't had any snow yet, which was good news for everyone travelling over the holidays. Plenty of 'slippery rail conditions' causing delays though, the old leaves again, I presume. That or the rain. I wonder how Russian trains cope and manage to run when ours just grind to a complete halt with a dusting of snowflakes. 

Prior to the neighbour calling, we had just arrived back after a weekend of parents meeting parents for the first time, and lots of wedding planning. Prior to leaving for the trip, I had a week of very late nights trying to finish the report ahead of the deadline, which fell on the day we would be driving back from my parents'. Parents got on well, my dad perhaps drank a bit too much and my mum was aghast by how I joke around with my future in-laws but otherwise, everyone enjoyed themselves and my dad's cooking.

Tasting the menu with Peter and his parents was a nice end to the trip. Surprisingly, we were pretty unanimous in our votes for the big day. The food was lovely, I particularly enjoyed my roast duck breast main course with caramelised plum and potato dauphinoise. Beautifully cooked. 

We also enjoyed a free wine tasting, which apparently doesn't normally happen, according to Lizzie, the events manager, which was the replacement of the replacement of the original wedding planner. Lizzie was much more efficient than the original and much less scatter-brained.

If you have ever seen Hotel Babylon on TV, the food and wine manager was like James. Peter's parents recently got back from their big trip to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand and they were talking about travelling.  It worked out for the hotel anyway, because we decided to opt for the much nicer, but more expensive, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc instead of the house white for table wine. For us, the wine made up for having to pay postage and Royal Mail admin fee to receive the wrong wedding contract.

My future mother-in-law especially enjoyed the wine and we all had a good laugh. The quote of the trip also goes to her - 'I hope I don't put my foot in it too often!' Just glad we weren't there when she 'negotiated' superior chairs for our sit down meal a.k.a. wedding breakfast. Wouldn't have her any other way though. 

Today is Wednesday, the third day of my two weeks off placement before the long haul. It's almost 1pm and I am still in bed, blogging in my pyjamas. How glorious.