A hunt with memories

As it was dry, and sometimes sunny, we decided to go furniture hunting.

We would like to replace our coffee table. We love the design. The top opens up, giving us somewhere to store our numerous CDs. There is a shelf below for magazines, tissues etc. What we don’t like is that it is not solid wood. Instead it has a thin veneer which is chipping rapidly. At least with solid wood, no matter how you bash into it, the worst you do is bruise the wood, giving it extra character.

We’ve been looking everywhere for another table, preferably of solid wood, with the same storage capacity. The Fox finally thought he’d seen one on-line. The company had a shop in Preston. We thought we would prefer to check it out rather than buy it unseen, especially as the drawer dimensions weren’t clear. So off we went to Preston.

It was enjoyable to go to Preston for a reason other than the hospital. We were inevitably reminded of those January trips as we went most of the way along the same route as for the hospital. The shop turned out to be in a pleasant shopping precinct. We looked around but decided against the table. There were another couple of furniture shops next door, but still no luck. One shop did have a table with the right CD storage capabilities but we didn’t like the design & colour. It was made in a rather taupe coloured glass, very modern in design that would have clashed badly with our old-fashioned hand-me-downs.

We decided to call it a day & head home. We returned along the A6, thinking, come 5pm we would start looking for eateries. Sure enough, at about 5pm, we found the Tavern at Cabus. This brought back old memories.

Over 40 years ago, when we were looking for our first marital home & having given up on the accommodation suggested by the college the Fox was going to attend after we were married, we went to look at a large caravan, which was for sale for more or less the price of a years’ flat/cottage rental. This pub is in what was the entertainment part of the caravan park where we looked at the caravan. It was open to the general public then too. All sorts of live music, quizzes etc. were put on then, as now by the looks of it. The caravan park has disappeared with the forty plus years, but this bar remains.

The food was good, properly homemade. I had a beautiful fish pie, in which I was surprised to discover smoked fish as well as the cod, salmon & prawns mentioned on the menu. The mashed potatoes were creamy, smooth & full of flavour. We discovered when we paid afterwards that this pie is the locals’ favourite & I can understand why. The Fox meanwhile had a chicken breast in a mushroom & cream sauce. It looked delicious too. The place was a very pleasant discovery, somewhere to stop again if we’re ever going this way.