Well now… what do you reckon? OK or not, to fill up with petrol?
I was up betimes this morning and thought I’d nip up to Sainsbury’s to buy a few foodstuffs that I know are only available there in the village. So I arrived early. I wasn’t thinking about petrol; I was thinking about my purchases – especially as I’d left my little list at home and was fiercely trying to remember its contents.
Anyway, on arrival, the petrol station was open and dispensing said fuel. And there were no queues. So, I thought to myself, ‘Should I get some?’ I had a little inner tussle with myself; I couldn’t decide whether I should or not, as I had just over a quarter of a tank left. But my inner voice asked, ‘Got enough to take John to hospital if you need to? And what about all the other running about you have to do?’ I decided that I would. I filled up. Just in case…..’Always Prepared’. Eeeh, I’d have made a good Boy Scout……well, I would if I’d been a boy, of course.
Home again, and I did a bit of a repeat of the other day when the shopping had arrived. “In. You. Go.” I panted, as I squeezed yet more bits and bobs into the fridge. Fortunately, I knew that much of what we’d got in there was going to be eaten at some point today, because we were having a reunion.
John had contacted his University friends, whom we don’t see often enough, and invited them to come up for the weekend. They all said ‘Yes’ which was wonderful. Equally wonderful were the arrangements that John proposed. ‘Arrive mid-afternoon on Saturday. Drinks and nibbles. Take-away meal of your choice. Might have a Spag Bol on the go. Brunch at Oakes’ Farm Shop on Sunday. A walk. Coffees and teas and chat before departing.’ Gosh, it looked a good proposal to me. Hardly any prep.
In their replies, everyone said they’d stay at the local Premier Inn, to save us having to make beds up – and they also said they were happy with a take-away. “I really don’t mind,” I told George, but he was insistent. “No,” he said, “no extra work. Just time to enjoy ourselves.” So that’s exactly what we did.
We have had a great afternoon and evening. Everyone arrived at various times – George and Val came first, and we sat and chatted, had a cuppa and some nibbles. Then Kelv and Ren were on the doorstep, greetings all round and time to crack open the Prosecco And, finally, Nev and Jane made it after having to find an electric charging point for their car to top-up the battery on the way. A top-up, of course, which takes half an hour……a bit tiresome to have to wait, but it’s eco-friendly which is the most significant thing. Time to crack open the champagne that Jane had brought. Lush, eh?
Everyone was on top form and we all nattered away, as if it were only yesterday that we’d seen each other. I loved it and I could see that John was really enjoying himself.
John had been in touch with Tamarinds earlier on in the week by email to book us into the restaurant at 8 o’clock. Everyone thought that was a bit late to eat, so agreed on ordering the takeaway, after all. We started the process about 6.15……. and Jane did a sterling job, carolling us all and getting our choices recorded. The only trouble was, it was taking a while – we were an unruly lot. Finally, just gone 6.30 I gave them a chivvy-up. “We need to get the order in as quick as we can or it’ll be 8 o’clock before they’ve got it ready,” I said. The order was finally in at 6.45. “That’ll be an hour,” came the response from the restaurant…… “More drinks, anyone?”
What fun we had trying to sort out what we’d got when it finally arrived. “What does this one say?” was the most frequent query. “Ooohhh…. this one’s yours!” And then, no matter how hard we looked we didn’t seem to be able to find the other half of Ren’s Biryani. “Have a bit of mine?” everyone offered. She was fine, she’d just have a bit of this and that, then….. “Oh! What’s this? Is it the sauce to go with your Biryani?” Yes it was…. well, we think it was anyway. Then, as we were sweating over who’d got what and was it all in order, John piped up, “Anyone want the Spag Bol?” Made us laugh.
This is us – post-feed…..
We are looking forward to ‘The Reunion: Part II’ tomorrow when Anne and Nige join in. They had hoped to join us this evening, but were otherwise engaged so weren’t able to make ‘Part I’. However, I have it on good authority that their alarm clock is set for 6 a.m. and, petrol-availability-willing, they will here tomorrow for Brunch. Fingers crossed. It is SO GOOD to be among people you like, isn’t it? Just does you good.
Numbers: 30,301 people tested positive for the virus today. 121 people died in the community. NHS numbers will be published on Monday.
Take care everyone. God bless.
Wonderful!
Yes!! It has been!