A fine weekend
I'd like to offer huge thanks to everyone concerned for a very fine birthday weekend.
It started out inauspiciously with my sitting in the Cambridge Blue for about 45 minutes before anyone turned up. I knew this would happen, of course: nobody's ever there at the start of a pubmeet. Even so, I felt somewhat self-conscious hogging a largeish table in the pub on a busy Friday night, asking people not to steal apparently-empty chairs. Then people started arriving and I relaxed. Next time, maybe I book the table and turn up half an hour after the time I say on Livejournal? (-8
On Saturday, I retrieved my car from the garage and drove down to The Mint in Banstead for lunch with my mother, my brother and his girlfriend. It's a friendly and picturesque pub that's near enough London for my mum to drive there and straightforward enough food that she'll eat there, so fitted the bill nicely. The only downside was very slow service.
Then I drove back to Cambridgeshire for dinner in The Anchor. Somehow, when I made the original booking they managed to book me for seven people at 10pm rather than ten people at 7pm - even though they stop serving at 9:30! Fortunately, my original estimate was slightly pessimistic and we sorted things out when I rang to amend it. I got the impression that the food was, if anything, even better this year in terms of quality, though some people muttered slightly about variety being a trifle restricted. The vegetarians muttered more than slightly; I might e-mail them and suggest they offer a greater range of vegetarian options, though I guess our party was atypical in being one third vegetarian.
On Sunday, we went to Wood Green Animal Shelter where dave_t_lurker was at a radio rally. We visited the animals until he was done then chatted awhile before heading down to Cambridge for lunch at the Wrestlers. Although doc_spod then headed back North, which probably marked the end of my birthday celebrations, I finished the weekend with a tandoori. Since I did a company pub lunch on Friday, ate at the Carlton on Thursday evening and don't really do breakfasts, that means I ate out for seven consecutive meals. Wibble!
This evening is welcome breathing space, but then I'm busy every evening this week, which means if my father's really visiting Cambridge imminently to see me then I'll probably have to ask him to come on Friday week.
But the next thing I need to do is attend evensong at Clare tomorrow evening, for today is March the second.
It started out inauspiciously with my sitting in the Cambridge Blue for about 45 minutes before anyone turned up. I knew this would happen, of course: nobody's ever there at the start of a pubmeet. Even so, I felt somewhat self-conscious hogging a largeish table in the pub on a busy Friday night, asking people not to steal apparently-empty chairs. Then people started arriving and I relaxed. Next time, maybe I book the table and turn up half an hour after the time I say on Livejournal? (-8
On Saturday, I retrieved my car from the garage and drove down to The Mint in Banstead for lunch with my mother, my brother and his girlfriend. It's a friendly and picturesque pub that's near enough London for my mum to drive there and straightforward enough food that she'll eat there, so fitted the bill nicely. The only downside was very slow service.
Then I drove back to Cambridgeshire for dinner in The Anchor. Somehow, when I made the original booking they managed to book me for seven people at 10pm rather than ten people at 7pm - even though they stop serving at 9:30! Fortunately, my original estimate was slightly pessimistic and we sorted things out when I rang to amend it. I got the impression that the food was, if anything, even better this year in terms of quality, though some people muttered slightly about variety being a trifle restricted. The vegetarians muttered more than slightly; I might e-mail them and suggest they offer a greater range of vegetarian options, though I guess our party was atypical in being one third vegetarian.
On Sunday, we went to Wood Green Animal Shelter where dave_t_lurker was at a radio rally. We visited the animals until he was done then chatted awhile before heading down to Cambridge for lunch at the Wrestlers. Although doc_spod then headed back North, which probably marked the end of my birthday celebrations, I finished the weekend with a tandoori. Since I did a company pub lunch on Friday, ate at the Carlton on Thursday evening and don't really do breakfasts, that means I ate out for seven consecutive meals. Wibble!
This evening is welcome breathing space, but then I'm busy every evening this week, which means if my father's really visiting Cambridge imminently to see me then I'll probably have to ask him to come on Friday week.
But the next thing I need to do is attend evensong at Clare tomorrow evening, for today is March the second.