Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Actually, it was earlier this week. However, today a group of us got together to wish my friend Nathan a belated happy birthday. We've been planning this for a while, and somehow managed to stop him from getting wind of it. Unfortunately, Berni couldn't be with us, as her treatment renders her highly susceptible to infections, but we shall make up for that once she's finished the course and is on the mend again! Lest anyone think it cruel of us to have this do when she couldn't attend, don't! I have been in touch with her repeatedly to make sure, and her utmost desire was that Nathan should get to see everyone else, and have a spot of time to himself. He has been a ministering angel recently. So I picked up Nathan and Laura, and headed down to Stone. He was under the impression that the three of us were going to have a quiet pub lunch, and things could not have turned out better if they had been planned, rehearsed and disaster-proofed. For when we walked into the local Wetherspoon's Nathan walked right past Iain, who tapped him on the shoulder. Pleased as punch was Nathan!

So off we walked to the bar, and then someone else tapped Nathan on the shoulder, and there was Si C! Back to ordering drinks and there's another tap - Si P and Tammy. Then we picked up our potables and retired to a table. No sooner had we begun chatting than appeared Matt and Kath (and their wee one, Hannah), whom Nathan hadn't seen in a year and a half, it turns out! You know how it is: one of you moves somewhere a bit far away, and meeting up goes from being a ten-minute drive to a couple of hours. It strikes us all. Then we all had a spot of nosh and some drinks. Well, let me just clarify: Laura wasn't drinking, Tammy and Kath are both pregnant, Si P, Si C, Matt, Iain and I were all driving. Not to mention Iain doesn't drink! So we all drank non-alcoholic drinks, and Nathan stood out! :-D

We had a grand chat for ages, and by and by everyone trundled away, then I took Nathan and Laura back home. Nathan was very pleased to have seen everyone, especially Matt and Kath, since it had been so long, which he rather regrets and blames himself for. It was a lovely time, and I hope we shall repeat it before too long. From a dispassionate point of view, several of us revealed ourselves to be hopelessly aged, spending perhaps a quarter of an hour lamenting the poor driving of others. Though one of us confessed to having been a bit naughty with an on-ramp. Tsk-tsk! I trust there won't be a recurrence, o secretly shamed one! ;-)

It was a wonder that we managed to get so many of us all in one place! If any of you have tried to get half a dozen people from all over the country (Si C had driven from London!) into one place , then you'll know it's easier said than done! All in all, I think every one of us had a great time. I got a couple of photographs, and should have taken some more. I'm not in them, naturally, but I've missed out Kath at one end and Iain on the other. My skills at photographing people are as great as my skills at photographing bunnies in far-away fields, it seems!