Gathering

Finally, the preparations that have been going on all week have come to fruition. We enjoyed our social gathering, with some very good friends coming along. It was less a party, and more a sort of soirée or buffet supper. We were bit unfortunate in that it didn't seem to be a convenient weekend for many people, and then on top of that about 15 people dropped out at the last minute, mainly because they had colds. There seems to be a fair bit of it about.

Anyway, those who came pronounced it a great success, with perhaps more opportunities for mingling and sitting and having a good long conversation than larger gatherings can offer. In addition, our fears of having massively overcatered didn't prove to be true. Well, they did a bit, but they were mitigated by the appearance of quite a few people with very good appetites indeed, including two people who appeared after the photograph in the extras had been taken.

We even survived the saga of the entryphone system not working very well.