More outings out than you can shake a stick at

The film review I know you are all waiting for:

We went, we sat, we are ice cream, we drank fizzy pop, we saw, we enjoyed, we want more. and we needed the loo. The latest Harry Potter movie was excellent, we all really enjoyed it, and were relieved that there was no Hogwarts for a change. Liked the wood scenes, liked the teenage tension, I was a little disappointed with the opening scenes - wasn't convinced, maybe they had used "Special effects R Us" for that bit when the recession struck.

We went on the opening night in Chesterfield, apparently at the same time as every spotty teenager within a 20 mile radius. But far from spoiling the evening, they added a certain atmosphere to the screening, cheering every bit of magic, and offering encouragement to the characters in times of danger - "Come on my son" was a frequent shout. It felt a little like a football match at times, but with Chesterfield on the winning side.

Our other evening out was a night at the theatre - well, Maisie's school for their production of Fiddler on the Roof. A senior school thing so Maisie wasn't involved, but she was very keen to see as she knew a number of cast members. And I have to say, it was brilliant, even almost moving us to tears during "Sunrise, sunset". The main cast were convincing in their beards - particularly the lads! There were attempts at the accents, and the singing was very professional - I'm hoping some will appear on Britain's got talent in the near future.

Earlier in the day we went out to lunch as Leanne and I have been together for 18 years. Our little trio went to the Rutland Arms in Bakewell.

I'm not sure it boded well when we were greeted with photos of the time the manager was involved in "The Hotel Inspector". However, the menu was simple, the food was well cooked, all accompanied with stories from the (slightly eccentric) manager about how he'd quite like it if the place burnt down so he could claim on the insurance. Weird. We were surrounded by clocks, all set to different times, which we were informed had halved in value since their purchase, but we enjoyed the regular chimes as they reached 1 o'clock ...gradually.

Creme bruleé for pudding...mmmmmm