Mello Yello

Mello was OK, but a little small as it used to be a dry cleaners and a butty shop, which doesn't give a lot of floor space.

Nice little tables to sit at, but with large designer chairs, which means that you're not particularly separated from the crowd standing at the bar.

Will probably try the place again, as it's about 1 minutes walk away, and opening night is probably representative of a typical evening there. There were others from our street in there, and I suspect that the blokes jawing at the bar had wandered over from "Crichtons".

They'd obviously rushed to get the place open in time for the December punters. We noticed that the kitchen door didn't appear to fit the door frame, and that fire extinguishers were just standing in corners - they haven't been attached to the walls yet.

Plus the staff were a little OVER attentive. Then there was the great British "waitress service" dilemma. She's brought me my change on a tray - do I tip/not tip? Why doesn't she just let me go to the bar anyway?

Sunday afternoon, we collected the Hobbits from Grandma Gandalf's and took them to see Father Christmas at our local riding stables (not that we ride horses there, but we might book the kids in for some lessons sometime soon).

They weren't fooled by the so-called reindeer - a horse with a pair of "stag" antlers, but they trotted in to see Father Christmas in his grotto, sat down beside him, told him their names, each asked for a torch, had their photo taken then trotted out again, clutching selection boxes of chocolate. Very cute in an "ahhhh" sort of way, so I suppose it was worth the 1 hour wait in the freezing cold gale that was blowing on Sunday afternoon.

I completed my "plastering job" on Sunday night. Good job it's just a temporary repair, since I'll never make a living out of this particular "skill".