We’ve had a unique treat today. Claire and Gary (the couple who introduced us to one another fifteen or more years ago) came to visit us. How unusual is that I hear you cry? Well, in the last three years it’s never happened. The reason is that C&G are the custodians of a dog & cat kennels and, under the terms of their licence, there has to be a responsible adult on their premises all of the time. I’m not sure if they realised how inhibiting that would be for them when they bought the place but in essence, it means they can never go out together to the pub, for a meal or to see friends unless they can persuade someone else to take on their duties as kennel custodians for a bit.

This weekend has been just such a weekend. They’ve been given the opportunity of a weekend away by some friends who offered to stay in their house, look after C&Gs own five dogs and look after the kennels too. That’s a really big commitment as it is the start of half-term and they are fully booked.

So Claire and Gary have spent the weekend in their old ‘stamping ground’, Reading, where they’ve caught up with family and friends. They wanted to see us on Friday night but we’d already agreed to help Hughie celebrate his birthday, so they suggested Saturday and as you know, not much gets in the way of White Hart Lane so we couldn’t do that either (and as luck would have it, it was an important day to be at the Lane yesterday).

I suggested this morning, they blagged lunch too (hee hee Claz) and so we’ve had a wonderful day. It’s so good to see them. We don’t see them half as often as we’d like and we’ve both just sat here and exclaimed at how great it’s been to see them both.

Claire said she’d only be my PotD if she could be photographed with her handbag on her head (yes, she is one of the three of us who toured the country in the early 80s with our French knickers on our heads, in my Ford Fiesta, watching bands and giggling a lot).

She tells us that this handbag has some sort of meaning but I have to say it meant nothing to me (it said something about Tim Burton on the back). She went into a ‘skate shop’ to buy it and felt very old. Personally I love the Snoopy tee-shirt and think that I will be asking her to send me some in the post if the place she got them still has them.

For me, the shot is reminiscent of the Halloween/Guy Fawkes party (at Claz and Gaz’s house in Reading) four years ago this very week, when DM and I finally ‘got it together’. We started to talk to one another and then continued on email for a few weeks before our first proper date. That night we stood in Claire’s kitchen talking, while all around us were people dressed as witches and ghouls.

Interestingly, I thought the ‘handbag’ shot of a few days ago was a bit weak really (I wasn’t well and I couldn’t get out to do an interesting shot) yet many of the girls have ‘confessed’ their handbag contents either in words or in photos (Pete and Vicki) so it obviously struck a chord with more people than I’d thought. In fact, Claz insisted on a shot of the contents of hers…….and here it is.

Sarah, next time we meet, yours is the one!