The Weekend, in review

I'm not exactly sure what the 3 boxes of bottles currently sitting outside of my kitchen door is testament to. I did make sure I'd put signs on the bins reminding people to recycle but that alone shouldn't explain the shear volume of bottles I'll need to pass onto the bin men on Thursday. My fridge also has a fair amount of spare beer which should keep my fluid level well stocked for the week.

So the birthday bash went well. It was nice to see everyone including the people I don't get to see that often. I hope everyone who came along had a pleasant time - strange drinks not withstanding.

The weather continued to hold up well for Saturday when I visited Mark and Helen at their new place. Well I say new but they have lived there for a year or so now. I left promising myself to visit more often, which may or may not been due to the excellent hospitality. Helen's Strudel, made with fruit picked from her own allotment, proved to be fantastic. We felt a little guilty attacking it before most of her guests had arrived. And of course we got to try some of Mark's latest home-brew which he only casually mentioned was 7% abv after I'd had two pints of it.

The fact I'd been eating since 1 probably explained why I wasn't that hungry by the time we got to Dimitri's for Jeff's Stag outing. I'm also very glad I managed to convince the table that a 8 persons worth of mezze would be fine for a table of 11 people. The food was ok although I would recommend the Mediterranean in Parsonage Gardens as better. We refused to pay the service charge when they wouldn't even let us order coffee because they wanted to clear the table. We also discovered bars where it can cost ?8.50 for 2 drinks, but you can buy packs of 20 fags for ?2. Needless to say we didn't frequent the bars for long before heading home to chill out at mine. Only a mild amount of corruption of the innocent was engaged in.

Today has been mostly been about lying in the sun and finishing off the last of the food left over from Friday. Tomorrow I go and pick up some art. I'm quite excited to see my new picture "in the flesh" so to speak.