Weekend in Derby

I haven't been to Derby for a few years, and I didn't think much of it the times I was there in the past, so this was chance to redress that a little. We had a great time. It's a lot nicer than I remember it being, although the ring road is as confusing as ever it was! Still, we managed to find the hotel without too much bother. It wasn't too bad either, despite being a bit too warm inside and there being a problem with the key cards into the rooms. It was quite close to the city centre, so going to meet Chris wasn't a problem.

We met by the concrete ram in the city centre. It was great to see Chris again. We haven't seen him since he left back in September. Unfortunately he was unwell at New Year, so didn't make it to the party, so this was a good chance to catch up with him and find out how things are going. It' s really good to find out that despite the bout of illness, everything is going really well for him. It was good to see some examples of the work he's been doing, especially as I haven't really seen much of his work before. I have to say I thought they were excellent. I see a lot of picture books at work, and the pictures he'd done for his project stand up really well against much of the work that has been published and put many of them to shame. I was really impressed with the level of detail he put into the illustrations, and he deserves to score well for that project if you ask me!

It was a great night in general. There was just four of us; me and Steve, Chris and Tim, and it was nice to have the chance to just have a good chat between us. Often when there's a bigger group I tend to get a bit lost in the computer game chatter (which is just one of those things I expect) but last night we had a chance to chat more generally about things and all three of them are thoroughly good company. That goes without saying too often, so I'm saying it now for the record! It's always a joy to chat to Chris about music, as I don't know anyone else who has as extensive tastes as he has, and I have enormous respect for his opinions and despite my taste being somewhat more mainstream than his is, there's still a pretty broad crossover which gives us plenty to chat about.
And I have several novels to try out on his recommendation too! And on Tim's we have to see Sweeney Todd, which he'd enjoyed earlier that afternoon.

So it was an evening of chatter, real ale (some great pints were drank in The Olde Dolphin) and a Yorkshire pudding full of steak and onions. I got hiccups later on, and nearly ended up bringing the whole lot up, but that was just about avoided, thank goodness.
I think Steve desires a Korg after having a go on Chris's one last night!

Today we took Chris up to Homebase to buy a rug for his floor, dropped Tim off at the station and went down the A6 to see Gaz and Sarah. Twice in four months- that's something of a record I think! Depsite them both being under the weather, we had an enjoyable couple of hours with them and it's nice to be told we cheered Gaz up immensely. Makes it all worthwhile (well that and the chance to stock up on some more jams and chutneys too!).

It was a long trip home, but as always, it's worth making the effort to go and see our friends.

Two weeks time, we'll be on our way to New Zealand... oh my!