A Good Day

I got officially older yesterday, which isn't always much fun.

This time, however, my birthday fell on a Saturday, which is nice, and I have friends here, which was even nicer.

They arrived on Friday evening, and we walked down to one of the pubs in the village, (which I haven't been to before). It re-opened fairly recently following a total refurbishment and under new management, and the food, and ambiance, were both good. (And I notice that they feature a 'gin of the day', although I didn't try that (at least this time).


Then on Saturday, we went into Bath, where we met with some friends of my guests, who were both lovely! It was a beautifully warm,sunny day,so we ended up having lunch at Browns, and eating outside (not something which I often get to do on my birthday!)

We had pondered visiting the Roman Baths, but having looked at the queue and the prices we decided against it, and instead visited book shops and fudge shops and cheese shops and a tea shop (well, a tea shop in a cheese shop) and generally enjoyed one another's company. (Well, I enjoyed the company, and I think the others did too).

It started to rain just as we decided it was time to go home, where we tried some of my birthday gin, and spent the evening eating and chatting and watching Baldrick going to a walk.

gifts and one of my cards,, showing that my friends and family know me all too well

So, a good day.

Birthday Party

OOoops. Friday again, and I haven't got around to blogging about last weekend, yet!

It was fun. Both of my sisters have birthdays in March, and E had a party which all of us (siblings) were invited to, together with a bunch of her friends - we all went out for a very long pub lunch, including some splendid puddings (the accurately named 'giant eclair', and the less accurate 'ultimate chocolate tower', among them)

And then we went back to E's house for the rest of the day, an had an evening which included Wii dancing, and Jack Daniels Pizza. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sunday was then a quiet day, spending time with extended family and eating lots of home cooked food. 

Did I mention it was fun? and really nice to catch up with all of my siblings at once - it doesn't often happen.

In Which I Have a Simply Wonderful Day

Yesterday was my birthday. I was feeling a bit ambivalent about it, what with the getting older and older, and the inevitable musings on life, however, I then remembered that I had good friends coming to visit, and fun things planned, and felt a lot more cheerful about it!
My friends arrived from Manchester on Friday evening, in time for us to enjoy a leisurely meal (with cake!) and several glasses of wine, as we caught up, and just relaxed together.

Then yesterday, which turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day, we had a long lunch in Bradford on Avon, then spent the afternoon in Bath (1 pub, 1 independent bookshop) followed by a delicious Nepalese meal, and then Simon Callow's one-man show "Dr Marigold and Mr Chops", which was great!

Picture from BTR website

The show is Simon Callow performing two of Charles Dickens' monologues:

The first, about Mr Chops, was a short story published for Christmas 1858  entitled "Going into society", narrated by Mr Magsman, a showman, about a Dwarf known as Mr Chops who wins the lottery and goes into society. Although having its moments of pathos, it's very funny, and Mr Callow is excellent at doing all the voices!

The second, about Dr. Marigold (He was named "Doctor" after the Doctor who delivered him!) is longer, and although it has a lot of humour in it it, is a real tear-jerker. Narrated by Mr Callow in the character of Dr. Marigold, a cheap-jack, describing his marriage to an increasingly bad tempered woman, her cruelty towards their daughter, the child's death from illness and his subsequent adoption of a 'deaf-and-dumb' child, who had herself been neglected and abused.  Being dickens, it's not surprising that there is a deal of sentimentality, but before the happy ending there is a lot of (still relevant) content about poverty, grief, politics, discrimination and domestic abuse, and Callow's Dr. Marigold is a well-rounded, complete character, whose loneliness and grief comes across between the comedy moments.

It was a superb performance, and made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. And all in all, the combination of good friends, good entertainment, and delicious food, wine and beer made for a great way to celebrate my birthday, and left me feeling set up for the year to come.

This one is for Nathalie

This is a brief Birthday Blog for SpacedLawyer . These manufacturers need to work on their spelling, but I hope you agree they have the right general idea....

And of course, one needs something to look at while enjoying that glass of wine..

Happy Birthday, Nathalie