Yesterday being her birthday, I rose early before Clare, to arrange the traditional family birthday table, with one of the last of the roses from the garden, a lit candle and all her cards on display, plus my modest gift of a National Trust cafe recipe book. After breakfast, she went off to the gym, and returned with fresh croissants and an an escargot to have with mid morning coffee.
Sister in law Ann arrived for the weekend just after midday and Kath drove down for an overnight visit, arriving at seven, just before we were due to visit Stefano's restaurant for a birthday supper. There's an all new menu there now, and we were delighted with what we ate, plus two excellent bottles of Nero d'Avolo.
Our waiter picked up that it was Clare's birthday. We'd not made any special cak arrangemetns but he came to the table at the end of the meal with a glass of flaming Zambuca to blow out, while we all joined in singing Happy Birthday. A delightful gesture.
Today being Michaelmass, I was glad of an opportunity to stand in for Fr Mark and celebrate Mass for three people at St Luke's in the morning.
This afternoon Kath drove us to Dyffryn for a pleasant sunny afternoon stroll around the grounds starting with a light lunch, followed later by tea and scones. Some of the trees have turned colour but not many. The greens just seem paler. The acer and maple trees are putting on a good show and the seasonal dahlias are flooding the beds with bright colour. A lovely outing - photos here.
In the evening, we sat and watched 'Mystery Road' together on BBC Four. It's slow moving and gives some remarkable views of the Australian Outback landscape and a plot which addresses the issue of the crystal meth plague afflicting even the remotest areas of the world. In our nightly must listen radio soap opera, the Archers, Freddy Pargiter has just been given a twelvemonth sentence in a Youth Offenders Institution for dealing in party pills. The exploration of the impact of this on his family and the community, and how people respond to it, is as just educational as any documentary. The Beeb are to be congratulated for this slice of long drawn out contemporary drama.
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