Sunday.

Just had a very full weekend. On Saturday morning drove up to Zoe's home village (blogs as 'Z'), where a blogmeet was going to be held. As we arrived early and I wanted to take a photo or so of the church we went there first. At the church gate we met the Sage (Z's helpmeet) who told us that a steam wagon was about to arrive. Hung around and were rewarded when the above beauty turned up on its way to a local 'Aquatic Centre'.  In the picture it  was reversing along a narrow lane as the driver said this was the easy way.

Photoed above stained glass window in the church. The prayer obviously met with Divine Approval, and was granted (hence our Diamond Jubilee this year).

Then on to Zoe and Russell's lovely home, and a quite superb lunch. Above snapshot shows (left to right) Zoe, Catherine (Rog's wife) and Ann (my wife); and it also gives a pretty good idea of Z's home. At last year's similar do it struck me that meeting people who you know only from their blogs was very much like meeting characters from books you know well and like. I said something like that to Z's friend Roses and she said that yes, on the whole, most bloggers give a pretty honest impression of themselves. We were shown round the house and introduced to Bobby, a leopard, who met his end in unarmed hand to hand combat with an ancestor of  Z (N.B. obviously not a family with whom a fight might safely be picked). Got to know Rog and his  wife Catherine a good deal better this year, and also was introduced to Z's charming sister Wink. In the midst of the festivities Christopher telephoned from the South of France (the hedonist!) to wish all at the party well. It was nice to be able to renew our acquaintance with Steve and Liz (a pair of very civilised 'bykies')  and to be introduced to Z's grandson, a charming young gentleman of some nine months (a little past his best of course - I always claim that the first six months is easily the best - but he made up for that by spending some ten minutes or so with me without showing any signs of fear or dismay - in fact we got on together like two matlows on shore leave, as Wodehouse so poetically puts it). I know I'm waffling on, and shall have to stop shortly as I've been summoned upstairs to a spot of supper; but what I'm really trying to do is to thank both Z and the Sage for their very generous hospitality - A day to be remembered - 'photographically lined on the tablets of the mind when a yesterday has faded from its page'. You will probably have worked out that wine was flowing freely and that I have not, as yet, completely recovered from its effect.


Good night all.