So today Will offered me a lift home from Church, which was really nice. As we arrived at my house and I was about to hop out, he invited me to come with them and a bunch of other people to Calke Abbey to see an open air production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Of course I had nothing else to do this afternoon so I agreed, and at about 4:45 he picked me up and we headed off to Calke Abbey, which is nearish to Derby.
It took about an hour to drive up there and the map was placed firmly in my hands, which was fine as it was a very straightforward journey and my directing was adequate.
Calke Abbey has enormous grounds which are really quite pleasant. The abbey itself is actually quite odd, it could have been facing a valley with a gorgeous view, for some reason it was built facing the side of the valley instead. There is also a big ugly square building behind it which I guess was a stable of sorts. It looks more like an old warehouse and it’s really quite horrible. Nevertheless, the surroundings were very cool, and the side of the valley which the abbey faced formed a sort of natural amphitheatre facing the stage which had been set up, making it an ideal place to hold an outdoor play!
I have to admit that whilst I had heard of the play, I had no idea what it was about so I mostly went along for something to do rather than a burning desire to be entertained. Entertained I was though, the theatre company were quite wonderful and the play was brilliantly funny (if a little predicatable and contrived). But the play itself wasn’t the only thing that went on, we also brought along a really nice picnic with us. Salads, stuffed olives, fresh bread, brie, pate, for some reason reindeer meat, and some other delicacies which all made for a very tasty meal. It was great fun to hang out, share food and chat away with everyone, even though half the people were uni friends of Will and Harriet so I didn’t really know them.
So now the excitement of today is over I have cleaning the house and generally preparing for wednesday to look forward to. On wednesday I’m hosting our small group meeting, which will be a barbeque social. That means I really need to weed the garden and make it look vaguely presentable outside! Not quite sure what I’m going to do with the two bikes at the moment either, I’m not even sure I have the key to unlock one of them so I guess it will just have to stay there…