Yesterday’s forecast of rain from 10-3 was now changed to rain from 11-3, so we abandoned any idea of cycling to the Christmas Lunch and met at Crofters at the later time of 11am. Lawrence had said he would pay on the day but didn’t pay, didn’t tell us anything and didn’t turn up, so he got a poor grade from Michael today.

There wasn’t a lot of rain on the way up in the car, just some light drizzle. We chose our meals from the menu at the reception desk, then everyone went swimming for £5 each. Everyone had a great time in the pool, Jacuzzi and sauna, especially Jack, Jerry and Callum OB who had not been here before.

For starters several had potato and leek soup which was really tasty – Callum OB liked it so much he made it last nearly 20 minutes, much to everyone’s annoyance. The main course was more of a mixed bag as usual. Those who had beef liked it very much. Callum OB decided anything on his turkey plate that had made contact with the cranberry sauce was inedible, which absurdly meant he ate hardly anything. And whilst everyone else thought the roast potatoes were superb, Callum F thought they tasted “like s**t”. Michael’s mushroom risotto was just about acceptable. Desserts were great again, with most having sticky toffee pudding and three having cheesecake. All the plates were empty by the end and everyone had clearly enjoyed the meal overall.

It had been raining hard while we were eating and it was still raining as we left. In fact it rained all the way home, so everyone was grateful we had come by car. We got back to Crofters by 3.30 and had a games social until 4.30. Most had a lot of fun on Halo Reach, but Zac preferred a solitary game of Call of Duty 4.

We planned last week to see the movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows in the cinema tonight, but only Zac and Callum OB turned up for it. We collected Neil from his house in Plympton and arrived in plenty of time for the 8pm showing in Vue’s Screen 10 which is now fully digital.

The film was similar to the first of the series in many ways, entertaining enough but in a style that didn’t suit everyone. We left at 10.25 and after dropping Neil home we drove back for 10.50 or so. Ash and Zac played a trick on Callum OB, pretending they had thrown his hat out of the car window: he was not amused when he realised it was all a trick and he had got angry for nothing.

We left around 10.45 and rode along Colston Road as planned. At Dartington we called in to the Cranks vegetarian restaurant: Zac got coffee cake and tea, Ash and Michael had hot chocolates and Jerry and Callum didn’t buy anything at all. After an enjoyable time there Callum bought chips from the new Venus café and ate them on the way home.

Nobody felt like extending the ride, which was understandable considering the weather, so we took the cycle path back up to Huxham’s Cross, dropped down to Staverton Bridge and then returned home via Abham for around 1.15.

Both Callum and Jerry wanted to do badminton as previously agreed. We got to Ivybridge for 8pm and had a good hour playing games on two courts – Ash wasn’t on good form tonight so Michael’s team won most of the games. We finished the evening with games of Halo at Crofters.

The youngsters played Halo together for the first hour, then Michael organised a music quiz with rounds on Christmas songs, movies, TV shows and games. Ash’s team (Ash, Callum O’B and Lawrence won today.

We organised a short ride to Hembury Woods this morning in view of the weather forecast. At 11am we were just debating whether or not the riverside track looked too muddy when the rain began. We headed back as quickly as possible, taking the woodland track shortcut to the Hapstead road and getting home for 11.30. At least we completed a ride of sorts.

We had a games social after the ride that involved Halo and Lord of the Rings.

We went to Plymouth this evening for some games of Pool at Tenpin. Everyone enjoyed the games so much that we carried on playing until 9pm, encouraged by one table that gave us a few free games. Jerry managed to lose all his games, but Ash and Michael had two close games winning one each on the black ball.

We called in to Tesco on the way home and returned by10pm.

We rode up Dean hill, then took the Moorshead Cross lane over to Skerraton Down as most of the group preferred that to the Avon Dam today. This involved taking the bridleway up to the moor and then following a path across the open moor to Skerraton Down. Jerry didn’t much like the off-road but still enjoyed the ride.

After having fun on the descent to Cross Furzes Callum O’Brien tried riding the ford and got his feet wet, which didn’t leave him feeling too happy. Jerry needed a little encouragement to keep to the left down Wallaford Road, but we all managed to negotiate the hill safely and got back to Crofters for 12.40.

There was a social after the ride until 2.30 in which we all played a massive team game of Lord of the Rings.

Michael had a loan car today that could only seat five people, so that ruled out the possibility of going out anywhere. Jack, Callum F and Michael played a game of Lord of the Rings against 3 brutal enemies, which meant that Jack and Callum earned their shop rewards for completing the next stage of their training. Callum O’B played Two Worlds 2 and Ash and Jerry played with the drum kit and Halo.

We concluded the evening with Halo and a movie and TV music quiz which everyone really enjoyed.