Wow, have we had great weather, for the most part. Lovely sunny days, temperatures in the high 50s and low 60s. It's now getting light about 4:45, and dark well after 9pm. Really nice! However, Friday afternoon our rains started, and we were afraid that was a sign of things to come. Peter Gibson, Lil Sutton and I were chatting, and we were hoping this was NOT a sign of what was to come. This weekend was the beginning of Peter's birthday celebrations, and as he pointed out, let it rain all it want this weekend, but pray for dry weather next weekend, as everything is outdoors! More on that later.

It was a week of medical "things" for me. Tuesday was acupuncture, then on Wednesday I was at my medical practice to have some things shaved/burned/liquid nitrogened off my back. Everything was benign, which was good! Thursday I was at York Hospital to see the dermatologist about the things she had excised/biopsied, and good news again, all benign. So my week, medically speaking, was very good!

On Friday a number of us gathered at the Rose and Crown pub for Peter Gibson's birthday lunch. Among those going was Nikki Laube, Teri Rhodes, Lynne Gill, and I. We had a good time, and then back to work. About 3pm there was a presentation to Peter by John Coulson, his manager, of the gifts we'd purchased with our collection at work. John is quite good at these things, and we all had a bit of a chuckle. After work, Peter came home with me, and we shared a bottle of champagne, waiting for Nikki and Teri to pick us up. We were on our way to the Three Tuns Hotel in Thirsk, where Gareth Dadd was hosting a "drinks and nibbles" party for those of us who'd helped in his election victory. It was a very nice event, and then we were back home a bit after 10pm. Teri drove, as she had decided she would not be drinking that night! Glad someone decided to do that!

Saturday was a lovely day, and I was up and out of here and at Lawton Henry's to get my haircut for 9am. Then I wandered up and dropped off some dry cleaning, headed to Newgate Market to pick up some fruit and vegetables and to buy some cards from Teri's parents' stall, then back home. Had some lunch, a rest, and then got myself cleaned up. At 4:30pm I headed to the train station to pick up Mark Daley. He is a friend of Peter and Gareth's who was attending the evening's festivities, and he was staying on my "metal-action sofa bed". We also shared a bottle of champagne, and then started to get ready. Thank goodness he was there! I needed help to get into all my stuff with my klt. We got my flashes on my socks, the belt through the loops, etc. Fortunately, he brought an extra bow tie, as the one I'd rented didn't fit! Anyway, we were ready for our taxi at 7pm. We arrived at Churchill Hotel and joined the group for Pimms Cups prior to dinner. How lovely everyone looked in formal attire: gowns, tuxes and kilts. We were taken in in groups and shown our seats, and then the dinner began. First Gareth welcomed everyone, and then Tim Brown offered the prayer. Peter had graciously asked if I would do the Loyalty toast to the Queen, and, of course, I had been delighted and honored to say yes. So with the 30 of us gathered for his 30th birthday, I offered the traditional toast to the Queen. This was followed by the opening of gifts and the singing of Happy Birthday, and a great deal more drinking. Our taxi arrived at 1am, and we shared it with Nick and Kerry Stajonavic, and we all talked about what a lovely time we had. We'd had rain during the evening, but that was okay, as it was all indoors.

Sunday I awoke with a terrific headache! Must have been the pillow; couldn't have been the amount of liquor consummed, right? Mark and I had breakfast, then I took him to the train station for his return journey, returned the jacket, shirt, waistcoat and belt I'd rented for the evening, then went and visited Liz Kirby to tell her all about the evening.

Now, we are all awaiting next Sunday, when there will be a whole hog roast at Peter's home for about 150 people to celebrate his birthday. Since it will be outside, we are all praying and hoping for nice weather! As someone said, it doesn't even have to be sunny, just dry! Thirty of us have hired a bus to take us, and it will be a fun time! Some are gathering at my place prior to the event for a bit of Pimms! Fortunately, the Monday after the hog roast is a holiday!! So that's my week, and I hope yours we equally enjoyable!

Love,

Denny