Third Day of Photo Challenge

Flower

Monday 16 April 2012

Trisha planted up this pot for me in memory of Boogy.  It blooms every year without any help from me.

~~~~~

Something I don't like

Tuesday 17 April 2012

A rainy morning ~ who would like a rainy morning?

~~~~~

Hair

Wednesday 18 April 2012

From the left: 

Kpie: brown, thick and glossy like Kate M's

Jpie: a double crown

Cpie: gentle red ~ like marmalade

yay! catching up!

Second Day of Photo Challenge

How you feel today
Saturday 14 April 2012

This was the day Lpip and I went to see Joseph and these were some of the sweets she didn't eat!  It was a funny day all told.  I felt: grumpy, confused, unsettled, frustrated, angry, intolerant, undecided, hungry, annoyed, happy, enthralled and ultimately contented.  A real mixed bag all day ~ just like the sweets.

Sunset

Sunday 15 April 2012

The view from the bedroom that used to be Stella's.

Hmm!  well putting the photos on was a little quicker today!

Back soon

Po xx

Photo a Day Challenge

Something you found ~ Friday 13 April 2012

I have taken up the challenge!  The challenge is to take a photo a day and the subject for each day is on a list which I found on a blog whilst browing.  I rarely take photos and when I do they are usually hopeless so this has been a good way of focussing the mind and experimenting too.

So far I have only missed one photo and that was because I really couldn't 'get it'!  More of that on the day though.  

This is my first and was 'something I found'.  I found it on the computer at work ~ a 2-for-1 ticket offer for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat' at the Watford Colosseum.  I took Lpip the next day and it was amazing!  and we both loved it ~ Lpip wants to go again!

it has taken me half an hour so far to upload this photo ~ here must be an easier way . . . . 

Back with more anon I hope

Po x

Some Questions and Some Answers

Kim tagged me with these questions aeons ago in January and this is my first chance to answer them ~ they mostly hold as true to day as they did in January though.

1. What was the best thing that happened yesterday?
     A request for annual leave was approved
2. What book could you read once a year and never get bored?
     The Diary of a Nobody
3. What was the last good idea you had in the shower?
     To visit the second hand bookshop in Stow on the Wold
4. Mac or PC?
     PC
5. What is your first thought when you hear that snow is in the forecast?
     Yay! Get indoors and batten down the hatches!
6. Favorite beach?
     Gillan Cove~ by the Herra
7. If you could do one sport very well, with no fear of injury, which would it be?
     Tennis
8. What is your favorite piece of jewelry and why?
     My wedding ring ~ for the symbolism, of course, but also because it is an unusual design
9. Do you get excited when the mail arrives?
     NO!
10. If you have a superpower where anything you knit would be finished, flawlessly, in a week, what would you knit?     
     A fair isle cardigan
11. DPNs or circs?
     DPNs

And the answer to the question 'What did Frankie have?' is: a beautiful baby girl weighing in at 10lb 5oz.  Lpip and Dpip think she is the Bees Knees and truly is she adorable.  She was born on 18 January ~ arriving much later than any of us thought ~ and she is growing, thriving and laughing. 

Almost ready to re-appear . . .

Everything has changed and I had forgottten by password . . . oh dear! 

BUT!! . . .

Stella came over this afternoon with the Pies and has helped me to reconnect with Blogger and I am hoping to be back on board soon . . .

I have photos, news and more ~ but sadly, less time than ever!

Po x

In which I feel miserable . . .

I didn't go back to work after all as I felt ~ and still do feel ~ really grim. 

And have spent my time sleeping, reading or with my head draped with a towel over a bowl of hot water ~ which is about the most boring occupation in the Whole World!

My foot is returning to a more 'normal' size although it is of a most unpleasant colour!

There is no News as yet in the 'Frankie and New Baby' section of the Po Et Familiares site . . . but hang on in there, folks, I'm sure it won't be long . . . .

I have also done a tiny bit of knitting: on the pink scarf which I started for Frankie about two years ago.  This sounds worse than it is  ~ I have done loads of stitching and even some knitting on the way!

I am reading 'Mr Pye' and 'Introducing Chaos'  ~ which says it all really!

A bientot!

Po x

2011 Books

I am losing my touch ~ or probably I never had one I the first place. In any case I don't seem to be able to post comments on other blogs now: PAH!!!
Kim asked me what I had read recently that was good and although I tried to post back it just didn't work somehow. I will write it all here . . . .

Crace: The Pesthouse ~ not an 'easy' read and quite harrowing in parts but well worth the effort
Ali: Brick Lane ~ a story of life for a Bangladeshi woman in an arranged marriage and her life in London's East End. This story spans many years and chronicles the changes in her life and how she copes. I loved it.
Dawkins: The Greatest Show on Eath ~ a Reading Group read or I would never have picked it up. I'm pleased I did, however, as although I dislike the way he writes and disagree with many of his ideas, the subject WAS fascinating.
McMahon: The Rose of Sebastopol ~ Strong characters and an engaging tale of two very different cousins and the impact of the Crimean War.
Bryson: The Lost Continent ~ Hilarious! and I now know where the 'Mid-West' is!
McMahon: The Crimson Rooms ~ Enjoyed this even more than the Sebastopol. A young, female lawyer in 1920's London and the murder case she takes on. Had me gripped to the last page.
Fallada: Alone in Berlin ~ Such a sad book! Set in Nazi Germany and one man's attempt to sabotage Hitler and the Third Reich. It does end on an up-beat. Please read it!
Austen: Persuasion ~ This year's Jane Austen ~ say no more!
De Bernieres: Notwithstanding ~ I want to buy a copy for everyone I know! Very funny although so quintessentially English that maybe one would need to be brought up in the English countryside to really enjoy it.
Banks: The Crow Road ~ Second time read and just as good as the first time. Banks' books fall into two groups for me: the ones I have to read with my eyes closed (!!) and the others. This was an other!

I also read, amongst other books, Niffenegger's 'Time Traveller's Wife'. This was an interesting idea but I found the idea of the poor chap turning up naked every time he went back and forth, having to steal and the author's use of vulgarities right through the book off-putting and sordid. I didn't like it.


On to 2012 and I have started out with Mervyn Peake's 'Mr Pye', which is good although I should really be reading Nicholls' 'One Day' for Reading Group meeting on Wednesday week.


And a quick update on the NYE Dinner:
We did hold it at my house and it was great fun (as usual). Jane and Eric did most of the cooking (others brought Starters and Puds), we had fireworks in the garden and many a laugh. We all sang 'Auld Lang Syne' when the time came and a good time was had by all.


My right foot has now turned an alarming purple colour and is hideously swollen. I am resting it as much as poss and, when not, hopping about accompanied by a stick borrowed from G. Work again tomorrow ~ although I'm not sure how I will get there as driving is quite out of the question. Such is Life!

that was Christmas . . . this is New Year

. . . and so yesterday I was cleaning in the kitchen, slipped on a patch of wet floor, fell and twisted my ankle but Kept Calm and Carried on.
By evening the pain was getting worse and the foot was swollen.
Stella took me to hospital where we spent three hours in A&E, I had an x-ray and then came home.
No bones broken fortunately, but Rest has been ordered for the next 2 days (useful diagrams received showing a chap on a sofa with his feet up on cushions ~ aha! I get it!) and Ice Packs at regular intervals.
It is my turn to host the NYE dinner so I am a trifle perturbed about the two hunks of lamb which have yet to be cut up into 'bite-sized pieces ~ mainly becasue I am now forced to either hop about the place like a demented robin or crawl on all fours like a dim-witted tabby.
Like all things, this will pass and besides, it is funny really, but at the moment I am just so frustrated because there is so much to DOOOOO!!

Christmas 2011 . . .

. . . exhausting!
no more than most years I suspect ~ it must just be me getting older
One new pip expected early in the New Year
I have been off screen for ages for a variety of reasons and have had little time even to look at other blogs far less comment ~ although I have been keeping up to date as much as I have been able.
back later with news . . . . hopefully!

holidays in suffolk

dunwich
1986 ~ peter and frankie
2010 ~ kpie, lpip, jpie, g, dpip, frankie and cpie
2010 ~ lpip and jpie

books . . . .

It was lovely to hear from Kim in Oregon! and books! now there's a good subject for scrutiny!!
Kim asked me for the titles of a good book for the summer ~ which got me thinking . . . so here are a few ideas:
I loved Kate Atkinson's 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' ~ it made me laugh out loud
Isla Dewar's 'It could happen to you' was another gem
Barbara Erskine is good for her plots which go back and forth in time ~ great for summer as you can gallop through them in no time.
Joanne Harris' 'The Evil Seed' was scary and a real page turner
I love the E F Benson 'Lucia' series ~ nothing to do with Lpip of course! ~ and they also bring back memories of lovely family holidays when the girls were young in Winchelsea/Rye
I have Philippa Gregory's 'The Other Boleyn Girl' on my shelf which I keep meaning to read ~ bought a very cheap DVD of it in Sainsbury's ~ if the book is as good as the film it's a winner.
William Trevor's 'Felicia's Journey' was wonderful ~ although no-one else in Book Group raved quite as much as I did!
Anything by Margaret Forster or Tracy Chevalier . . .
And Khaled Hosseini and Kazuo Ishiguro . . .
Old faithfuls like Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope . . .
One can hardly beat 'The Book Thief' ~ everyone loves it this side of the Pond!
We read Maggie (I think) O'Farrell's 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox' at Book Club ~ great praise from us all.
We read one per month at Book Club and I oftentimes forget them but Patricia Ferguson's 'Peripheral Vision' was good . . . and Peter Carey's 'Oscar and Lucinda'.
This month we are reading Nancy Huston's 'Fault Lines' ~ although I haven't started it yet ~ we all think it looks and sound pretty good!
Gracious!
I think I am making up for Lost Time.
Back again soon
Po xx

in which I attempt to catch up . . .

This is a blogging in which I attempted to 'catch up', dated 18 April! ~ it is in fact 22 June now!
I can't now remember what exactly mis-fired with the computer ~ but summat did and I gave up.
So this is just to let anyone who does still 'tune in' know: I am still alive, very busy and always hoping that I will be back some day.
I still read my fave blogs but feel so bad about not writing that I haven't even had the heart to comment.
Maybe I will be on the radar again soon . . . .
Po xx

O & G's Diamond Wedding Anniversary

This is the article about O and G which was in the Watford Observer a couple of weeks ago:

Diamond couple put marriage down to dominoes

A diamond couple have put their long and happy marriage down to a daily hand of cards and game of dominoes.

Fred Hawkins met his future bride Elly when the pair worked at the Oxhey Grange mansion.

Elly, who was born in Switzerland and raised in Austria, came to England in 1938 to learn English.

After being picked up at the train station in a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce, Elly was taken to the house, where she met a young son of a building labourer from Pretoria Road, who worked in the gardens.

Elly, now 89, said: “I came to learn English so I came to a family in Oxhey Grange and Fred worked there. I worked in the kitchen and around the house and he was a gardener.

“So that's where we met.”

In 1939, when World War 2 was declared, Elly found herself marooned from her family in Austria.

She said: “There were four girls who worked in the house, but the three other girls were Welsh so they went back to Wales.

“But in 1940 Oxhey was declared a restricted area for all foreigners so I got another job working for a family in Hempstead Road.”

At the age of 19, meanwhile, Fred signed up to the newly formed Local Defence Volunteers, who were more commonly known, later on, as the Home Guard.

After hearing about the newly formed LDV the night before, Fred and his pal made their way to King Street at 7am the next morning, where they signed up inside Meredith's Wood Yard.

Five months later Fred was conscripted into the army and found himself stationed near Dover, where he helped make guns.

In 1945, Elly returned to Switzerland and then Austria, having had no contact with her family and unaware if they were alive or dead.

Happily, Elly managed to find her family in Austria and shared letters with Fred until she returned to England in 1949.

Fred, also 89, added: “I went over once to see her and we talked things over through letters and we agreed to get married so she came back over.”

The pair were then married on August 1, 1949, in Holyrood Church, in Watford, and celebrated their marriage with a reception at the Windsor Club, in Loates Lane.

Sixty years on, Elly and Fred - who now have two children, five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren – will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary on Saturday with a family meal.

Asked what is the success to their marriage, the pair, who live in Bushey, say they share one hobby.

Elly said: “We play dominoes every morning after breakfast and then in the afternoon we play cards.

“We play for money.

“We play five games of dominoes for 5p a game. The money then goes in a jar and then when we want to go out for a meal the money comes out of there.

“We also play ten games of cards for a penny a game and every game goes to a mission in Africa.”

We had a truly lovely celebration on the Saturday of their anniversary ~ O and G enjoyed it tremendously!!

Firstly we went to mass at Holy Rood ~ the church in Watford where they married, where many of us were baptised, confirmed and made First Holy Communion . . . and in Stella and Richard's and Cat and David's and Frankie and Alex's case married too. That was beautiful and O and G also received a Papal Blessing which J had organised. Oh yes ~ and they had had a card from the Queen arrive the day before!

While we were waiting for mass: Jpie and Cpie:


Kpie ~ and of course Budin came too!



Then we zipped off up to Il Pappatore in Bushey ~ one of my most fave-of-all-time restaurants for a family meal.

In the restaurant: Em, Eric, O ~ and G just trying to get out of shot!








Lizzie and Janey








The children had their own table-for-four. When he had finished his first glass of orange, Jpie ordered another round for himself and 'the gels' ~ taking the 'man's' role already . . . and he's only five! here they are: Lpip, Jpie, Cpie (back of her head) and Kpie)


And then back to mine for tea and caake ~ and Kpie entertaining us with a tuneful medley on her violin.



Here they are about to cut the caake.












A lovely day ~ we were all so happy to see them enjoying themselves so much! they deserve it!





coming soon . . . . The Calke Abbey Concert Week-end . . . .

The journey home

Nice view of the Motorway? I think so . . . but just as well as I spent over an hour looking at it!
Started off at 9.00 a.m. after a, fortunately substantial, breakfast and hadn't gone more than a mile when my ABS light came on. Stopped to check the manual which said that it was ok to drive as the brakes would still work ~ which they did.

On my way down the A9 I stopped off at the House of Bruar ~ and spent far too long and far too much there! Really it's a day's shopping experience ~ E&J called in later in the day and reported a helicopter taking off with a group of shoppers ~ now that's style!!

Anyway I carried on but by the time I reached the outskirts of Glasgow I did wonder if the slight swaying in the steering had more to do with the car than the wind! So I stopped at Happenden Services and looked at the back ~ but it seemed ok. By the time I set off from there it was gone 4.30 p.m. and I was all set for a long drive home listening to music and quietly mulling over my hols. Pah!

Just onto the Motorway a dreadful rattling started and the car began to swing about alarmingly. Stopped at one of the phone boxes and called the AA.
It took over an hour for the first chappie to come, decide my stub axle had gone and that I should be relayed home. Still, it was good weather while I waited, I had a book and it wasn't raining! This is the view northwards.

In all it took 5 vehicles and just over 10 hours to get home from there. The drivers were jolly helpful and mostly a good laugh ~ but it was a l-o-n-g night and I was glad to have my little car off-loaded at home at 4.30 the following morning. I was dead-beat and longing for a bath!!
And as post-script: the car was mended the next day and now appears to be as right as rain.
Back soon with news of O&G's 60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration.

More Photos from Bonny Scotland

This is the view from one of the eight sides of the tower. None of us was sure who owned this bit of land . . . but it was certainly very productive!







Another view of Stella and Rich's room.






Budin having a quiet moment on Kpie's bed

I thought this was a cupboard under the eaves . . .



. . . but in fact it was the ensuite!




















The Drawing Room ~ comfy rather than posh . . . and all those books!!














Jpie, Cpie and Kpie at the gipsy caravan at Cawdor Castle






In the Wild Garden at Cawdor







Nature Trail at Cawdor


RP at Ja's Party!







F'ster!!

Bonny Scotland!

I'm back from Bonny Scotland after a wonderful holiday ~ only 5 days but truly memorable!
This was the furthest north I have ever been ~ and I'm wondering what took me so long!
Over 40 people were there to join Ja for his 18th birthday party ~ me, E and J in B&B, nearly 30 in a large house in Nigg and the rest in the wonderful wonderful wonderful Poyntzfield House.. Wow! This house was unbelieveable and impossible to adequately describe! Look it up on the web and the photos just don't do it justice ~ it's much much nicer than that ~ I urge everyone to go and see for themselves!!
Poyntzfield House ~ the main section with the wings form three sides of the courtyard. You can just see the top of the tower ~ accessible from the top floor ~ windows on all eight sides so you get a wonderful panorama of the surrounding countryside.

Close up of the tower












This is the little window in the middle of the top floor. It looks quite big here but is only just the size for a small child to crawl into ~ which of course they all liked to do! the photo shows how very thick the walls are.















Day One:
Arrived after a 13hour journey that passed all too quickly. Fr and Al had come by the evening before I left with my birthday present: a poppy mug and set of coasters (my fave flower) and lots of foodie bits for the journey up ~ which was really great as I didn't have to waste time going into service stations etc for sustenance. Fabulous scenery especially through the Lake District and along the shores of Lochs Lomond, Lochy and Ness and then over the Beauly Firth to the Black Isle. Quite staggeringly beautiful. Checked into my little B&B and then headed over to Poyntzfield where St, Ri and the Pies were staying along with Ki and her little brood of three. All the children were playing in the courtyard ~ it's a really fabulous and safe place for children ~ and then they all took me for an excited tour of the house. Settled with a long-awaited coffee and enjoying a chat when Jpie ran into something and split open the cut on his chin ~ so a quick trip to Inverness A&E for him, St and me! (He was ok and they just glued him up a bit!). Then a bit more chat and 'home' to the B&B and a long sleeeeep.


Kitchen at Poyntzfield with children snacking





Kitchen: desirable dresser and farmhouse table

Poyntzfield: trampolining in the garden: Th, Jpie, Ki, Cpie and Rich









and Jpie getting in on the act!






Dine in Style here!


The 'boys' lavatory




and the 'girls' lavatory



Stella and Rich's bedroom ~ wooden beams, wooden floor, double aspect and shutters!!!







Corner of the Main Staircase

Day Two
This was the day I went to Pitcaln House, which was where almost everyone else was staying. This is a very large house down a long and impressive drive-way between trees and bushes and with views over the Firth. Heaps and heaps of people were staying so one could never be at a loss for company ~ and David did ALL the cooking for them!! He made a super roastie lunch with all the trimmings and then pudding as well. Despite the fact that there were close to 40 people we were all able to sit down together in the dining room ~ so you can imagine how large it is!!


F'ster on the swing at Pitcaln













Day Three

My birthday!! St, Ri , the Pies and I went to Cawdor Castle which is a castle well worth seeing. We toured the garden first as it looked like rain ~ beautiful formal gardens, a wild garden and even a nature trail.

In the garden: Cpie, Stella, Jpie, Rich and Kpie
Kpie and Jpie
The castle was very interesting with lots of witty and whimsical commentary cards all over the place. Very cosy!! and almost, but not quite, as impressive as Poyntzfield!! We had a picnic in the grounds which was a treat ~ and a bit of a nostalgia trip for me as we often celebrated my birthday with a picnic when the girls were little. We went back to Poyntzfield for tea and lots of people from Pitcaln nipped in too. I was quite tired that night so didn't stay late ~ just long enough for a glass of wine and a general lol about in the drawing room. Arrived back at the B&B to find a half bottle of sparkling wine and a tiny birthday cake with one candle from the B&B people! How kind is that? (Quick plug: Newton Croft Bed and Breakfast at Conon Bridge on the Black Isle ~ lovely place!)

Day Four
Ja's 18th Birthday!! Brilliant Day! Ja looked very grown up indeed and was a lovely host.
Here he is with Stef:
The sun shone and we all had the most stupendous time. Even more people had turned up by this time: from Hertfordshire (mostly), Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Ireland, Warwickshire and Portugal. David did all the barbecueing ~ the man's a wonder!! ~ and everyone else just sort of chipped in when needed. We sat around eating, drinking, chatting and laughing mainly. All the young-ish people played a game of rounders and the children (and a fair proportion of adults) had goes on the tyre-swing. Ja's grandma, Ann, had her birthday that day too so a double celebration. It was a lovely 'family' affair and ages ranged from 2 months (RP) to 70 with absolutely every age in between. Marvellous!!

The Birthday Boy and his little sis!

Day Five
The journey home . . . was somewhat more eventful than the journey up!! But I'll leave that story for another time . . . .

a little bit of stitching . . .

I haven't put any of my stitching on this blog. That's mainly because none of it is anything to write home about! Or write on a blog about for that matter!
I don't generally do large projects and what with needing HUGE magnifiers as well as largest magnification 'reading' glasses, my finishing isn't all that great either! (But of course I am very modest ho ho!)
But I have decided I will put this one on because I am quite proud of it.
The last time Stella, Rich and all three Pies visited with O & G, Jpie wore his little magician's outfit. He looked really cute and the outfit included a top hat out of which he produced a rabbit! Not a real one I hasten to add!
So this is the card I sent him for his birthday last Tuesday. And I would just like to explain that although the stitching is really not that special, I made up the pattern myself. Aren't I the clever old stick?????

i went to the globe!

yay! I have been intending to go ever since it opened ~ the present one I mean! not the original!
Went into work Tuesday morning and then up to London by tube from Watford Met early afternoon. I got off at Westminster and wandered along by the Embankment in glorious sunshine. I love London!
I walked as far as the Millennium Bridge and then crossed to the Tate Modern where I spent a happy hour in the Poetry and Dreams section ~ superbly surreal! This is from the Tate side of the bridge looking back at St Paul's:















And this is the Tate Modern from the north side of the Thames ~ with a bit of the Millennium Bridge 'thrown in'.






I spotted this little old church wiith a mediaeval look to it while going over the bridge ~ I don't know what it is called ~ but I love the fact that it is just THERE surrounded by all those modern buildings













And how typically 'London' is this? A red bus passing in front of Tower Bridge!

The Globe 'evening' was WONDERFUL!! I had paid to go to the pre-show 'setting the scene' talk and that was good . . . because it did! The play was 'Troilus and Cressida' ~ very well played though I'm glad I had read a synopsis beforehand or I'm not sure I would have followed it! It wasn't a bundle of laughs to be honest but the whole experience was extremely enjoyable none the less. You really did get the flavour of how people in Shakespeare's time would have experienced going to a play. Though I'm happy that I had decided on an undercover seat ~ not one of the 700 'standing tickets' out in the rain which fell intermittently all evening!
In all it was a great afternoon and evening and I would recommend the whole experience most heartily! Here is a shot of the Globe seen through the trees from the Millennium bridge:

Answers:
Kim! Fortunately when I bought my coke the girl gave me a can and also a glass so I had both hands full and did't get my 'offering' out of my bag. Otherwise the story would have been worse (or funnier!) with me scrabbling about trying to retrieve the card and donation!
Friko! Well I'm glad someone is as daft as I am!! LOL

a funny thing happened at the party

(all the names have been changed to protect the innocent)
I had been invited to Peter's 60th Birthday Paty last Saturday at the W and F Club. Great! I loke parties and, as I told Sally, Peter's wife with whom I work, I had been there some years before to someone else's 50th.
I arrived at the venue at just after 8.15.
I did think it a little strange when I heard the music ~ Sally had told me that her son's Band would be playing and this was quite definitely disco music. Still, it was relatively early and maybe this was 'warm up' time.
I did thinkit was a little strange when I went in and found, instead of a signn for the G ... Room, as I had been directed, there was just a big sign which said 'Function Room'. Still, I supposed everyone must know that the G . . . Room is in fact the Function Room!
The bar was right there as I walked in and I did find it a little strange that no-one asked to see the ticket with which I had been issued with instructions to be sure I brought it or I wouldn't get in. Still I suppose I look quite a respectable middle aged law-abiding old soul ~ no threat there then!
I got myself a diet coke and wnet intot he main room past the table with a big sign saying 'Please put your cards and donation here'. Well that fitted! Peter had asked for no presents but donations to his favourite charity would be welcome. There were heaps of balloons and big '60' signs all over the place ~ so far so good!
I thought it a little strange that I didn't recognise a soul. But I don't really know Peter that well, don't know any of their friends and of their rather large family I had only so far met Sally's elderly parents. I did think that some of the work people would have arrived by then ~ but maybe they were all being 'fashionably late'.
I spotted a table where two nice ladies about my age were sitting and asked if I could join them as I didn't know anyone. then I asked them'Is this the W and F Club?'
'No' replied one fo them 'this is the V and Y Club' !!!
'Well whose birthday is it then?'
'Oh it's Wendy's' they rather helpfully informed me!
'Oh no! I'm supposed to be at Peter's'!!
'Well this isn't it' they said ~ although to be honest I had kind of worked that one out by myself by then!! LOL
At that moment a very nice, though possibly curious, lady approached the table wearing a big sash thing over her shoulder which announced '60th Birthday' ~ obviously Wendy! she was very nice and laughed and we had a little chat whilst I finished off my coke and then I said I had better go. To Wendy's credit she invited me to stay!! But I said I should go as I was sure I was expected else where.
When I did arrive at the V and F Club ~ after considerable problems actually finding it! ~ I had a great evening. Peter and Sally, and indeed everyone, enjoyed themselves tremendously: we ate, drank and were very merry indeed. Hoorah for birthdays ~ we should have them every year!