We went to Lucy’s 40th birthday party last weekend, along with most of the rest of the family, joining about 70 other folk in Chris and Lucy’s garden. Thank goodness the weather was kind – a perfect summer evening. Beer and wine flowed and there was a hog roast, and some people were even caught dancing.
There was a quiz, where the specialist subject was, of course, Lucy. It was an informal competition, teams formed by whoever happened to be sitting together. On our table we had one of Lucy’s close friends, and Bridget joined us – a formidable team. Scoring was as informal as the quiz, and so we weren’t sure how well we did, but we certainly didn’t disgrace ourselves.
A small group of guests with stamina were still chatting around the fire pit until 4.30am, but we retired at 1.30am, when we left with Bernadette and Dave, Lucy’s parents, who kindly provided us with bed and breakfast in the bungalow near Southampton.
On Sunday Dave took me back to Chris and Lucy’s, a half hour run, to collect my car and Andree, who had slept there, or least had tried to sleep. Apparently at 3am Andree was remonstrating with those still talking around the fire pit, clearly audible from her bedroom. Andree opted to travel back with Dave while I followed. The M3 back to Southampton was nose-to-tail, and thanks to cars swapping lanes I lost Dave but thought I saw him leave the motorway, and followed, only to realise, after I was committed, that Dave’s car was below me, still on the motorway. I was now heading for Bournemouth, and so left at the next exit. I couldn’t remember Dave and Bernadette’s address, and people that I tried weren’t answering the phone, but eventually Chris replied and provided the address. Thank goodness for Google Maps – I was only 10 minutes behind Dave.
We spent a contented couple of hours on the south coast, chatting to a sailor who explained how the tiny fast dinghies that we had seen rising out of the water were supported by a hydrofoil just beneath the surface. We enjoyed a coffee in the sunshine overlooking the Solent before returning to Bernadette and Dave’s for a fry-up before we headed home.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
