A Celebration Cryptic Crossword Clue

A little while back we got an unusual request on TimesforTheTimes....

"I am a recent convert to the Times' cryptic crossword - and am an enthusiastic (although not yet very good!) cruciverbalist. My boyfriend turned me on to your crosswords and he is a huge fan. 

We are coming up to our one year anniversary and I want to get him something special to celebrate. I have been trying to work out how I might create a cryptic clue which would lead him to the word 'anniversary' to go on the present I am making him, but as I mentioned I am pretty hopeless.

I know this is a very cheeky ask, but I wondered if you might be able to help with a cryptic clue that I could pass to him to solve? He would be so pleased, it would really make his summer!

Kind regards,

Mari Burton"

Melford Hall

It was a lovely day again today so we thought we'd take a trip out before lunch. It is ages since we had been to Melford Hall, so we thought we'd take a trip to Long Melford to visit it.

K2B Kitchens Charity Evening

Last night we took a short walk to this charity evening at the showroom of  K2B Bespoke Kitchens, who created our new kitchen for us. (See here).

Artefact Brewery Beer Festival

My friend Tim had noticed this was on and a couple of weeks ago we booked our places to visit the Friday afternoon session.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 108 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Sawbill's turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on  TfTT . You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 108 by Sawbill

This time it is Sawbill's turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 108 in the series. 

You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info. As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

High Lodge Open Day

Today was Open Day at High Lodge, which meant parking was free.

Bedford River Festival 2024

Today we had a trip to Bedford to meet up with Laura and Laurence (and William too) to visit the biennial Bedford River Festival. 

A Near Miss

Just round the corner from us...

Wool Towns Walk Launch

I got invited to this event today.

Needham Market Walk

Today we took our first trip along the A14 since the roadworks had completed to do a short walk at Needham Market.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 107 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil's turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on  TfTT . You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 107 by Phil Jordan

This time it is Phil's turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 107 in the series. 

You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info. As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. The title gives a clue to the theme, which shouldn't be hard to spot. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

New Kitchen Blinds

Today we got the last piece of our kitchen refurbishment done - some new blinds from Hartwell Blinds.

Best Hotpot Ever

Now we've got super new kitchen appliances, Dawn has decided she wants to do some of the cooking. Tonight she made a Traditional Lancashire Hotpot (using this recipe) from the leftover roast breast of lamb from our Sunday dinner, with a bit more lamb and a couple of lamb's kidneys added. It was delicious. Best hotpot ever!

John's Walks 2024 Updated

I've done a further update to John's Walks 2024 to cover the end of April, May and June. It provides an index to all the walk blog posts so far this year. You can access it via the menu bar at the top of the page or the "John's Walks" section in the sidebar. As usual, I'll continue to update it periodically during the year - every two or three months on average.

Our Kitchen Project Showcased

After our kitchen was finished,  we had Abi and Megan from K2B Bespoke Kitchens around to take some photos.