September - Mike's 60th Birthday

September 27, 2019

The main event of the month was Mike's birthday on Sunday 22nd with just over 50 family and friends joining him for drinks and a buffet at the George & Devonshire in the evening (6-9). He had made all the arrangements, and even created the invitation.

I was amazed at how good it all was - the pub provided excellent food and were very helpful and competent. We had the whole of the back bar to ourselves (there was Hungarian folk dancing in the function room) but it made for a very relaxed atmosphere with plenty of opportunity for people to mingle and sit down with different groups. There was prosecco and canapes to start with, bottles of red and white wine on the bar, and other drinks available from the main bar (where we were running a tab). There was even treacle tart! Mike had organised a cake to be made by Nikki's bakery in Chiswick - we picked it up in the afternoon. It all went really well and was not all that expensive - £846. Only 10 bottles of wine were consumed! I didn't eat or drink very much, spending a lot of time talking to people. Lorraine was there and was very helpful and sociable. Mike came home with a huge amount of cards!

In other news -

We went to Maryanne's for lunch - and were able to admire and appreciate her new extension and landscaped garden. The other invitees were Steve and Mary, and Kath and Graham, and it was a very convivial and enjoyable few hours. The food was wonderful and we had the full works with three courses followed by cheese and biscuits and then coffee and chocolates - it's been a long time since we have done this. The grape scissors made an appearance too.

We went to the CCCBR Mini Roadshow with Monica. I attended a very interesting talk by Alan Regin about the Roll of Honour, but otherwise it was something of a disappointment and seemed poor value for £15. There were very few stalls, and none of particular interest to me. Mike enjoyed networking with the other ringers present. Monica and I ended up sitting outside in the sun chatting and listening to the mini rings (there were 3).

We went to Lords for the day, courtesy of Clare and Francis (who is a member), and watched the first day of play between Middlesex and Durham. It was great and I was never bored by the play at all. We watched all day until play stopped when the light got bad. We had a nice lunch in the usual restaurant, and great seats in the members enclosure. Monica looked after Suki for the day.

I took Suki to the vet because she was limping on her forelegs and came away with multiple pain killers and a £430 bill! She doesn't want to walk very far now and I have to constantly encourage her to keep going. I have now cut the walks down to one a day, and we go very slowly while Suki does a lot of sniffing. I guess she is just getting very elderly now - boo hoo. I will have to find other ways of keeping fit now I am not walking so much with her.

Devon. Monica came down to Devon for the week while I was there. She went out every day to visit friends and was back for the evenings, so came ringing at Bovey and to handbells at Moretonhampstead.

On the Moor

I made good progress on sorting out the shed. We finished the jigsaw which Ann had given me to do.

We had the drive done - by some chaps who turned up touting for business. I wouldn't have engaged them, but Pat agreed and so it made sense to have our side done too. They were clearly going to pocket the cash - but they made a good job of it and it was a reasonable price. The drive looked newly laid when they had finished.

The weather was wonderful all week - warm and sunny. I bought a fig tree - after getting some beautiful figs from a friend which I thought had come from her neighbour's tree. It was only after I had bought the tree that I found out she had bought the figs from a shop! I shall grow it in a pot - putting it in the porch for the winter and on the sun terrace for the rest of the year. It was only £20 so worth a punt in the hope it produces fruit.

Handbells. Rang a QP of Kent Major and a peal of Ashtead S Major with Tim, and two peals of Kent Major with Steve - one with the Southwark band and one with the Friday morning band.

Walking. Went walking with Maryanne without Suki for the first time! It felt very strange. I had to get up early to take Suki for a short walk first. We did the Bradenham walk which was very enjoyable and we got the route through the woods right this time. The weather was good, and stayed dry, and the walking was varied with some breathtaking views. We tried the Black Lion in Naphill for lunch - ok but nothing special.

Walked from home to the Bell and Crown to join Caroline for her birthday supper. Mike drove and met me there. It was quite an enjoyable walk and I saw new parts of Chiswick and crossed two railway bridges. The supper was good too - Mike and I shared two starters as our mains.

2.5 miles, 50 mins

New Bike. Walked down to Wolsey's to pick up my new bike when I got back from the walk with Maryanne. By then it had started to rain - so the bike got wet the first time it came out of the shop! I was very wobbly when I first got on it so cycled round the park trying out some of the (27) gears before I set off home. I will need to practice!

I did manage to cycle it to Barnes for the QP and practice, and back again in the dark, and rather enjoyed it when I wasn't petrified. I found the butterfly handlebars will need some getting used to, but I think I will be sticking with them as it was useful to be able to take the pressure off my wrists.

Family. The kids went back to school!