Somehow DM can find ‘art’ in an evening out with these two and yet all I can find is Shazbop with her eyes shut!!!

Tonight we went to meet up with Sharon and Hugh in Richmond for a meal and drinks….we chose a riverside restaurant where the setting was wonderful, the ambience great, service pretty good after a shaky start but the food decidedly mediocre……well, grim really.

The evening was meant to be a celebration of Sharon’s birthday (which is Bastille Day so it was a couple of weeks late). We traded gossip and (as always when with them) giggled ‘till we hurt. There was lots and lots to catch up on…..Sharon is embroiled in a scandal at work as her boss (she’s a PA) has been discovered shagging the Chairman’s secretary and all hell has broken loose. The affair has gone on for a year undetected and the first Sharon knew was when her boss’ wife telephoned her to tell her the gory details. Poor Sharon – it’s been a very grim time with all the mudslinging that has ensued. It just goes to show that you can get sucked into stuff so easily by the actions of other people.

Hugh has changed his job recently and has been globe trotting in his new role, trips all over Europe and the USA. He’s not yet got to the point of being jaded about the travelling and says he’s thoroughly enjoying it. We’ll see how he feels about departure lounges after another six months. Mind you, he did say that he would have knelt down and kissed the soil at Heathrow after his last trip to the USA. Now that I can relate to!

We were able to bring them up-to-date about the house in Cornwall and the other stuff in our lives. They’re all booking their trips down and that’s just what we want – a house full of friends all the time.

Strangely I was all geared up to celebrate Sharon’s birthday yet it didn’t occur to me that it’s just as close to mine…..and they had a big bag of goodies for me too – the books on the table are from them. One of the books is an autobiographical account of a woman who advertised for a lover to give her ‘before I turn 67 next March – I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like.’ I can’t wait to see how that one turns out!!! It’s by Jane Juska and the cover claims it’s an international best seller, though I’d never heard of it before. I am in the middle of something else at the moment but as soon as I finish that then this goes straight to the top of my list. I don’t know what else is in the bag of goodies they gave me – the rest gets opened on the day.