under another sun

New beginnings Lorraine and I up to the smoke today to Diane's party in the Garden Cafe in Regents Park. Very stylish venue and Regents Park in full bloom and busy in the sun. After recovering from a cancer operation last year Diane decided to have a party "to celebrate new beginnings". Mum and Mase were there, and we met lots of Diane's family I had not seen for many years. Nice food and bubbly and plenty of friendly chat. Mum and Mase recovering from a cat emergency as Salty returned home needing stitches this morning. Diane enjoying things, and gave a nice short speech over a candled cake. Then we returned to Brighton and snoozed. A delightful little girl of perhaps four talking to her father all the way down. As we were pulling into Brighton she asked "how do people with only one leg go to the toilet? Do they hop on?" Out with Sue and John, who we'd visited in the Cotswolds last year, and are very close friends of Lorraine. We had a nice Japanese mea...

Owls and a jar of sunlight Valentine's day was very nice. Got up early and bought some flowers and heart shaped pastries and chocolates for Lorraine, and then we had the same pastries and bacon sarnies in fresh bread for breakfast which was jolly fine. And I started the day feeling happy and content. Imaginatively, Lorraine bought me a little black stone owl for Valentine's day. I love owls and already have a box of owls. Also later in the day when we were mooching around in Brighton we went into a charity store, where I seem always to find something, and Lorraine spied another owl carved out of some natural wood so that it looks like an owl in a tree trunk. I bought this and a sturdy blue pottery vase for about seven pounds. Bargain! After a walk along the busy seafront we decided that the strategy of having a Valentine's meal in the afternoon rather than packing in cheek by jowl in the evening. Opted for Japanese and ate in the Oki-Nami restaurant which launched last year...