Eighteen years on

Having had to dip out of Martyn’s birthday meal, we rebooked for today’s wedding anniversary at the same venue, which we know by reputation only.  Well, our first visit was a success.  Excellent food, friendly service and a pleasant environment with muzak that didn’t impinge on conversation.  Sankey’s Seafood Kitchen and Bar.  Two firsts for me: Korean crisp cauliflower starter, and John Dory main course.  Martyn had a classic prawn cocktail followed by halibut.  The John Dory was delicious, but a shade labour-intensive. I’ll have a better idea of how to tackle the bones next time.

Young Mr Sankey was visible in the restaurant, which is always a good sign.  I was tempted to collar him, since he’s a one of our three councillors, and I have a bone to pick with said body.  But since I hadn’t taxed Alex, the other local councillor who served me when I collected my happy pills from the pharmacy earlier, I thought it would be unfair to tackle him - in any case, today’s agenda is a happy one, so no need to sour the atmosphere.  

Eighteen years since the very wet day when we registered our civil partnership.  Since we’d been an item for over five years by then, we tend to remember 28 April 2001, the day we met.  But a good excuse for a celebratory meal nevertheless.

Busy coupla weeks

Flu and Covid jabs, meals with friends and family: that sort of stuff.  Of the jabs, Martyn was quite poorly for a week or so after the Covid one.  I felt a touch out of sorts, and the arm was sore for a few days, but nothing worse.  Surprising how many people we know have had bad reactions to the vaccine.  Better than the disease, though.

We had a most enjoyable reunion of our old art group last week at the home of one of its members.  Miss had instructed each of us to bring a plate of goodies (savoury in our case), so we did our usual smoked salmon palmiers and sausage rolls - we’re getting a bit typecast, but who cares?  We ring the changes with the palmiers, and find that red pesto and sun-dried tomatoes do well, specially with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan.  

Donations continue to trickle in following our Macmillan coffee morning.  The total now stands at £1382, which sets us a bit of a challenge for next time!

Our u3a Four Seasons Birding group met last Thursday at the RSPB reserve at Dungeness.  Most enjoyable visit, thanks to the organisers and the excellent guide.  I am at best a casual birdwatcher, so the commentary from the guide was particularly useful.  Lots of birds I’d never seen before: marsh harriers, bearded tits and golden plovers to name but a few.  Hosts of lapwings, myriad ducks of numerous persuasions, goldfinches, snipes and so many more.  One or two of the group spotted a kingfisher, and our expert birders were excited by the sighting of a black-necked grebe.  I admit that I found the walk a bit tiring: it takes time to rebuild the strength, I suppose.  

Shame that Martyn was still off form on his big birthday: we decided to cancel the planned lunch out.  Adding insult to injury, a misunderstanding about venue meant that our planned meal with friends on Sunday didn’t happen.  Oh well, all the more reason to re-plan the celebrations when the stars align better.

Too old for all this

Last time I charged the Renault, it was enough just to plug it in and click on the boost button on the app.  Yesterday that worked for a minute, then dropped out.  Charger rebooted, it kicked in again, and soon dropped out.  Time after time.  We plugged in the Fiat for an overnight programmed charge, and that seems to have worked.  I’m trying that tonight on the Renault, so we’ll see tomorrow if it works.  One tries hard to be umweltfreundlich, but the reliance on software - or rather, on my ability to use it - makes the whole thing rather difficult.  

Can anyone tell me why we can’t just plug the damn’ thing and throw a switch?