Got a phonecall from "control freak" friend (I've posted about her antics before). Are you busy this Saturday?, No I said, well she said it's Mark's birthday (her son now aged 26), I know, I said i've got a card and pressie for him (I usually get him a little something). Well do you fancy coming over to us? It'll be a good day, late morning ok for you? Can't see why not I said, look forward to it!
Conversation turned to Xmas, I was telling how we played this jolly good board game based on guessing what one another would do in certain situations....Oooh she said, sounds good, bring it with you.
Ate a very small breakfast as her home is normally heaving with food, which she makes you feel rude if you refuse anything she offers. Grabbed the pressies, and a couple of lovely bottles of wine.
Arrived at my destination, first funny thing happens, son Mark answers the door, sorry Suz, they're out, but they said they won't be long ...cup of tea? Had a cup of tea chatted to Mark for about an hour ( which turned out to be the best part of the day!). Friend and hubby arrived after the obligatory hug and air kisses I handed her the bottles of wine to which she briskly put away in her cupboard!!! Cup of tea? No thanks I said, what about a glass of wine? Now you're talking, I thought she literally turned round and picked up a half opened bottle of Lambrini from the work surface and poured some into a glass. Standing in the kitchen I noticed a couple of slow cookers on the bubble, the bread maker exuding beautiful smells around the kitchen, she switched on the oven...great I thought, looking forward to this great meal! Dinner will be about half an hour she said...as she reached into the freezer and grabbed a bag of oven chips and a bag of Sainsbury's best economy sausage rolls, must be for the kids, her hubby's sister and their kids were staying. Turned out though that this culinary treat was for us, as she cheerfully announced that Bev and the kids wouldn't be coming down 'cause they're upstairs with the norovirus!!!!! GGGGrrrrrreat!
The meal - Mate, hubby, other friend of theirs who'd been invited, and the birthday boy sat down to dine, the plates were placed before us (turned out that the array of treats cooking away in the kitchen was some batch cooking she was doing for the rest of the week!) OMG! She screamed, there's something missing, she winked at Brian her hubby, she jumped up from the table and returned with an enormous jar of pickled onions - Made them myself she simpered, just tell me if they aren't the best pickled onions you've ever tasted? Thus ensued a twenty minute conversation about how wonderful these onions were...yep, they were good, but tbh Sarsons won't be losing any sleep! My mind wandered to how the rest of the day would pan out....perhaps this light lunch was just to keep us going until later. They live a stone's throw away from one of those cut price carvery pubs, after all it was her son's birthday, perhaps he'd be going out later, who knows.
Mate suggested that I get the game I was talking about out and we have a quick game. The quick game, whilst fun, took an hour and a half and immediately after we had a winner, she insisted that we play it all over again!!!!! bearing in mind that the other guest has the knack of deliberately mispronouncing words for comic effect, and erupting into laughter himself, and by the time everyone else had stopped laughing a question that would normally take about half a minute to read out takes at least five!!!!!, and every time a work related question arose, she used it as an opportunity to tell us how she was "head hunted" by two teams! We played another equally long game after which it became apparent that the evening's entertainment consisted of watching not one, but two lengthy tv progs....Atlantis and Pemberley? that I had not only not been following but had absolutely no interest in...so much for the pub!
Eventually I decided to play up the cold I was just getting over and told them I'd suddenly come over feeling somewhat unwell and would catch the train home sometime in the next hour!!
Got home at about 8.30 - home sweet home....very strange day, very strange indeed!
Conversation turned to Xmas, I was telling how we played this jolly good board game based on guessing what one another would do in certain situations....Oooh she said, sounds good, bring it with you.
Ate a very small breakfast as her home is normally heaving with food, which she makes you feel rude if you refuse anything she offers. Grabbed the pressies, and a couple of lovely bottles of wine.
Arrived at my destination, first funny thing happens, son Mark answers the door, sorry Suz, they're out, but they said they won't be long ...cup of tea? Had a cup of tea chatted to Mark for about an hour ( which turned out to be the best part of the day!). Friend and hubby arrived after the obligatory hug and air kisses I handed her the bottles of wine to which she briskly put away in her cupboard!!! Cup of tea? No thanks I said, what about a glass of wine? Now you're talking, I thought she literally turned round and picked up a half opened bottle of Lambrini from the work surface and poured some into a glass. Standing in the kitchen I noticed a couple of slow cookers on the bubble, the bread maker exuding beautiful smells around the kitchen, she switched on the oven...great I thought, looking forward to this great meal! Dinner will be about half an hour she said...as she reached into the freezer and grabbed a bag of oven chips and a bag of Sainsbury's best economy sausage rolls, must be for the kids, her hubby's sister and their kids were staying. Turned out though that this culinary treat was for us, as she cheerfully announced that Bev and the kids wouldn't be coming down 'cause they're upstairs with the norovirus!!!!! GGGGrrrrrreat!
The meal - Mate, hubby, other friend of theirs who'd been invited, and the birthday boy sat down to dine, the plates were placed before us (turned out that the array of treats cooking away in the kitchen was some batch cooking she was doing for the rest of the week!) OMG! She screamed, there's something missing, she winked at Brian her hubby, she jumped up from the table and returned with an enormous jar of pickled onions - Made them myself she simpered, just tell me if they aren't the best pickled onions you've ever tasted? Thus ensued a twenty minute conversation about how wonderful these onions were...yep, they were good, but tbh Sarsons won't be losing any sleep! My mind wandered to how the rest of the day would pan out....perhaps this light lunch was just to keep us going until later. They live a stone's throw away from one of those cut price carvery pubs, after all it was her son's birthday, perhaps he'd be going out later, who knows.
Mate suggested that I get the game I was talking about out and we have a quick game. The quick game, whilst fun, took an hour and a half and immediately after we had a winner, she insisted that we play it all over again!!!!! bearing in mind that the other guest has the knack of deliberately mispronouncing words for comic effect, and erupting into laughter himself, and by the time everyone else had stopped laughing a question that would normally take about half a minute to read out takes at least five!!!!!, and every time a work related question arose, she used it as an opportunity to tell us how she was "head hunted" by two teams! We played another equally long game after which it became apparent that the evening's entertainment consisted of watching not one, but two lengthy tv progs....Atlantis and Pemberley? that I had not only not been following but had absolutely no interest in...so much for the pub!
Eventually I decided to play up the cold I was just getting over and told them I'd suddenly come over feeling somewhat unwell and would catch the train home sometime in the next hour!!
Got home at about 8.30 - home sweet home....very strange day, very strange indeed!
