Keys Corner

Flying visit

We were in the UK on Saturday and Sunday - to see Mum, who we haven’t seen since October last year. We also decided to find a nice hotel and have a really yummy meal, as Saturday was my birthday.

Mum is not doing too well - she is happy enough at Angela Court but is gradually deteriorating mentally. She chatted away to us all the time we were there, but we didn’t understand much of what she was telling us. She still recognises us (well, this time Ruth went into her room first, and she only realised who she was after I came in too!) and does have lucid moments.

Fortunately, she has retained her sense of humour and is still able to laugh with us and join in when we are generally making idiots of ourselves.

In the evening we drove over to the Belfry Country Hotel in Yarcombe. We had found it on the web and thought it sounded interesting - it is run by Katie and Paul, who both worked - like we still do - in Information Technology until last year, when they took over the Belfry. The hotel is small - only 6 rooms - and has been very attractively decorated and furnished. Paul is the chef, and we had a scrumptious salmon teriyaki as our main dish, preceeded by tart tatin of caramelised red onions and followed by a huge selection of local cheeses. We hadn’t realised what a variety of cheese is produced on the local farms. Everything from soft ripe cheeses similar to Brie, through to a very strong tasting mature Somerset Cheddar. After the meal, despite having been up since 4 in the morning (to get the first flight to Heathrow) we stayed in the dining room talking to Katie and Paul with the other guests.

The breakfast the following day was also excellent, and we can certainly recommend the hotel. We intend to stay there again next time we visit Mum.