Old friendship

I managed a reasonable lie in followed by a breeze of a drive down to Hamble, nr Southampton. It was so good to see A as she greeted me at her aunt's front door. D, her new partner, very diplomatically stayed upstairs for the first 15 minutes or so. I think he thought it'd be nice for us to have a few minutes together before I met him. What a thoughtful man. That impressed me. They've had a wonderful four weeks in France with A's family, including a three day trip to Paris, which was a first for them both and sounded totally romantic. A' s been very patient in her life and I'm so glad she waited until now to visit the city of love with a man who seems to truly appreciate and, dare I say it, possibly love her. I'm so happy for her. Patience clearly does pay off on the end.

We headed off to the ancient and atmospheric pub, the Jolly Sailor on the Hamble River, which is where my blip of them was taken. (Several pub scenes of the '80s tv series Howard's Way were filmed there.... only one of it's several claims to fame I think). We ordered Prosecco all round to celebrate our coming together again after nearly 18 months. We then spent four hours catching up and D and I getting to know each other a little. I couldn't help testing him a few times and I'm very pleased that he passed all my tricky questions with flying colours. He makes A happy and she does equally seem to make his eyes light up so I am daring to have high hopes for them both. I am proud of myself as I managed to avoid any mention of possible engagement, marriage or babies but it was hard!

Finally, it was off to the local curry house for a slap up meal, then fond farewells (with a doggy bag for lodger L) and a filthy drive home through horrid rain, pretty much all the way.

What a wonderful way to spend a welcome free day.