Today we headed down to Sussex as Colin wanted to visit a farm near Steyning to pick up some Venison for our Christmas dinner. We are hosting Chris and Monika and we are cooking both a turkey crown and venison with all the trimmings. The farm was not at all well signposted and I only spotted it at the last moment. The farmer and his wife (and children) were all working flat out to prepare the orders but they had ours ready and waiting. They even threw in a massive bag of bones so that Colin could make stock.
From there we continued on to Steyning where Colin’s cousin Tony and his wife Janet used to live. Tony passed away at the beginning of 2021 when we were still under lock down restrictions. Sadly since then Janet has apparently developed some signs of dementia and is now in a home. We started by finding a place for lunch before visiting Janet at Croft Mead - a care home. We hadn’t told her we were coming and took chocolates and flowers. She seemed really pleased to see us and I am not totally convinced she is bad enough to have to live in a home… I think it could be more that Tony’s family wanted the house. She didn’t seem to know where all of her furniture and more of her personal effects had gone to. We spent an hour or so and it was lovely to see her although she is definitely a bit forgetful.
I was sad when we finally left us as she looked so sad and not nearly as bubbly as she used to be. Her love - Honey to dog also passed way a few years ago and she seems to have little to look forward to.
It was a bit of a sad drive home - culminating in Colin boiling up all the venison bones in the hotpot in the garage!
