Friends and Family Events – Page 27

Family Seasonal Stuff, 13, 21, 25 and 31 December 2008

13 December 2008 Hil & Chris

This will have been a Christmas presents visit with Janie cooking dinner for all of us. The details of the menu are not recorded in Janie’s diary, but we do know that Janie & I took a cab after dinner and stayed at my flat, letting Hil and Chris have Sandall Close for the night while we went back to Sandall Close via the tennis court in the morning.

21 December 2008 Charlie

Charlie visited her grandma and then came over to Sandall Close for dinner and to stay the night. The menu is not recorded again, but the words “Champagne in fridge” do appear in Janie’s diary. Priorities.

25 December 2008 Christmas Lunch In Battersea

With Dad and Len now gone, we felt that the gathering at Janie’s place would no longer be appropriate. We ended up booking a restaurant in Battersea – I cannot remember its name or how we came across it, but it seemed keenly priced for Christmas Day and suitably located twixt North-West and South-West London.

I recall our Addison Lee driver really struggling to find Battersea High Street and getting very stressy with us. I recall the place being pretty darned good for the price, in terms of food, drink and ambience. I’m pretty sure it was just me, Janie, Hils, Jacquie and Mum that year. Janie thinks Michael and Dorothy joined us, but I think their first appearance for a Christmas Day do was the following year.

I think mum picked up the tab for all five of us – hence me not having a record of the name of the place.

31 December 2008 – New Years Eve Gathering At The Ramada

Phillie really hadn’t been at all well that autumn and there was real doubt as to whether she should or would attend this event. But we had arranged it with her in mind – she wanted to dance – so we took a large table at a communal New Years Eve dinner and dance at the Ramada Ealing (the DoubleTree by Hilton at the time of writing, January 2019).

Wouldn’t have been our choice independently but, hey, it was what Phillie wanted and everyone at that time thought this might be her last hoorah. In the end, Phillie needed to have herself put together with sellotape and promise the doctor that she wouldn’t not to dance too much to get permission to attend.

We think the attendees were Max, Micky, Kim, Anthea, Mitchell, Hil, Chris, Tony, Phillie, Charlie (I think), Janie and me.

Phillie, in her inimitable style, complied with “doctors orders” by dancing all the rest of us off the dance floor – I’m talking non stop dancing for hours. Kim and Janie’s thoughts on the matter are captured photographically below:

A Couple Of Bridges To Cross But Perhaps Not So Many Magic Tables Back then – 14 August and 20 November 2008

14 August 2008

We crossed the river and played at Hampton Wick (Maz’s new place) for the first time. Some business on the e-mail about Andrea driving and co-ordinating pick-ups around North-West/West London.

My thank you note to Maz was not too revealing – it read:

Many thanks for a most enjoyable evening last night. Excellent meal and, as always, good company. Nice to see your new home, too, which I thought was very you; you seem very happy there. Shame we didn’t get the cards but you can’t have everything I suppose.
Looking forward to the next one.

20 November 2008

The next one turned out to be at Barmy Kev’s place. I supplied the card table and accoutrements, so must have driven there. Kev’s mother-in-law Mabel was in situ, as Kev’s set up e-mail revealed:

Ironically Olivia’s mum still with us, will be for a year now, don’t ask, but will find a way round this and no rowdy behaviour after 11pm.
Ged , if you can supply table cards , scoreboards etc, this will help.

Subsequently, by which I mean some 10 years later, Kevin and Mabel achieved more than 15 minutes of fame when a video about Kevin and Mabel’s use of a “Magic Table” to help people with dementia went viral – some 3 to 4 Million views at the time of writing (January 2019):

But back then, it was simply bridge with dinner en famille.

I can’t find any post match analysis (by which I mean bridge match, not magic table match) on the e-mail trails, so perhaps we didn’t get much in the way of magic bridge hands on the table that night. I do recall a very enjoyable evening, though and the e-mail wires were certainly busy trying to set up the next one for the January.

A Good Month For The Worms, 2 August, 4 August, 9 August, 24 August 2008

Lots of Worm activity (i.e. Janie’s “Wormleighton” family and friends) during August 2008 if my diary is to be believed, but no photographic evidence. For more detail on some of these activities, we might need to ransack the attic and retrieve Janie’s diaries.

Saturday 2 August – Phillie.

My diary also has “Anth” crossed out, so I think the original idea was for Anthea and Mitchell to visit when Phillie was with us, but I think they came the following week and Phillie alone stayed with us at the maisonette and had dinner. Tony was away on business if I recall correctly/

Monday 4 August – Middlesex v Somerset floodlit.

I took Paul (Belmonte) that evening and gave him the pavilion experience for some of the game and also I recall watching a fair bit from the Upper Edrich Stand. I think this was only the second floodlit game at Lord’s; at least only my second experience of it. Here is a link to the scorecard.

Saturday 9 August – Anth

Not sure what we did but quite possibly Anthea and Mitchell came over for dinner. I think my diary would have more detail if it had been a bigger adventure than that.

Sunday 24 August – Worms

The Monday was a bank holiday of course. This will almost certainly be Hil and Chris; I think we might have all have gathered at their place in Bristol – i.e. including Phillie, Tony and Charlie. I think this was the year that Janie and I went down just for the day – a late lunch barbecue – then drove home. Quite a success I seem to recall.

Correction/update: It is clear from Janie’s diary that she and I stayed at the Hotel Du Vin in Bristol that time – possibly our first stay in that place. We stayed in Berringer and at that time they parked us at the hotel. Still a success though, as described.

A Quieter Couple of Weeks, Ending in Gastro Bistro, Clapham, 6 July 2008

After the wonderful yet strange evening in Uxbridge 24 June, a quieter couple of weeks before the next excitement.

25 June

There was an England v New Zealand ODI at the Oval, which I didn’t attend but I was able to catch the end of it on the TV after work. The scorecard – click here – reveals how close the game was but does not reveal the controversy over Collingwood’s captaincy after he insisted, against the advice of the umpires, on progressing a run out appeal in unusual circumstances, against Grant Elliot – the Kiwis went on to win the match anyway. The Sussex v Middlesex match that evening seemed tame by way of comparison; I’m pretty sure I listened to most of it:

27 & 28 June

The last T20 group match was at the Oval against Surrey. I know I missed it completely, because Daisy and I were taken out for dinner by Jamil and Souad – I’m pretty sure we went to Noura in Belgravia, but Daisy’s diary should confirm or deny when we get around to checking – see “A Couple of nights out”.

27 & 28 June

A yes, we indeed had a couple of nights out:

A Brace Of Birthday Dinners For Daisy, 27 & 28 June 2008

4 July

Following a working week that looked quite light on meetings and evening engagements, but did include another Z/Yen Boat Trip on the Wednesday, on the Friday, I took a day out at Uxbridge. Middlesex were hosting the visiting South Africans in a warm-up match.

I wrote quite a lengthy report for MTWD on that day – click here.

Here is the scorecard from that tour match.

6 July

A relatively quiet weekend culminating in a lunch out with my mum at Gastro in Clapham. I had not seen this Jay Rayner review – click here – when I booked it.

It seems to divide opinion on TripAdvisor too – click here.

Actually, Janie and I rather liked the place, but I do recall that the Sunday menu was not quite as advertised and in any case the dishes on offer were of an kind unfamiliar to mum, who got a bit shirty about it all.

I’m not too sure how the matter got resolved but I seem to recall the lunch event being salvaged somehow, I think through some good staff making appropriate amounts of fuss around mum and looking after her nicely. Or did we move on to another place to get that fuss? Janie might remember.

I do recall resolving not to book such a place again for mum – the familiar “old-fashioned Italian or French bistro” places she’d been to before being the best bet for her now. Oh well.

A Brace Of Birthday Dinners For Daisy, 27 & 28 June 2008

Friday 27 June – Jamil & Souad

On the Friday we had dinner with Jamil & Souad. Both of our diaries are silent on the details of where we went, but I’m pretty sure they wanted to treat Janie for her birthday so my guess is that we went to one of the well posh Lebanese restaurants they favoured at that time – i.e. probably Noura in either Curzon Street or Hobart Place.

Those two are always jolly company and would have been extremely hospitable.

Saturday 28 June – Kim, Micky, Anthea and Mitchell

Again both diaries are well light on detail. There were thoughts of another Sandall Close party for that evening, but I think the combination of Charlie’s graduation the day before and Phillie’s poor health meant that idea was shelved. There is a half plan for Hil & Chris to come down in Janie’s book, but I think that was when we thought we might have a party. Janie notes in different coloured ink, which looks over-riding:

Annies…+ Kim, + Anthea…
…followed by cab bookings.

Annies will have been the Strand On The Green branch (I don’t think Ive been to the Barnes branch) and I must admit that neither Janie nor I remember much about this particular evening. It will have been enjoyable and I do recall liking the food and ambience in Annies.

I think that evening replaced one planned for a couple of week’s earlier (14 June), when we were hoping to see DJ too.

A String Of Late May Evenings, 22, 27 & 29 May 2008

A few late May evenings with little to report.

Thursday 22 May 2008: Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinner

This was at “Rogues” in Maida Vale, as was the norm in those days. John Random did the shout out and only provided limited feedback afterwards:

A big thank you to all of you who turfed yourselves out for the Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinner despite the cyclone, earthquake, Crewe and Nantwich Bye-Election and anything else that might have put off lesser mortals. To those of you who didn’t make it, you were much missed. Till the next time…

It will have been fun.

Tuesday 27 May 2008: Net At Lord’s

The e-mail trail tells me that this was Chas, Adam, Mat and me. Here’s my shout out/reminder:

Just a note to remind you all that we are netting this evening.
See you at HQ Indoor School in whites just before 18:00.
Adam – FYI – I’ve bought and am bringing my helmet after our last net together! Although, having seen Mr Flynn on Friday, I’m not sure I’ll be trying to hook the head-high stuff anyway!!
Best
Ian
The “Flynn” reference is to a Kiwi player named Daniel Flynn who was not spared the need for dental work by his helmet – see video below:

I think that net was my first go with a helmet. I had decided to wear one from that 2008 season on, after a couple of near misses the previous season – at least one of which was at the hands of Adam, albeit in outdoor nets. Chas commented afterwards:

Great being at Lords last night, but am I the only one suffering from multitude of aches and pains from the cricket net?…
…The helmet was ‘interesting’ although I did notice others wearing them as well.

Thursday 29 May: Bridge At Andrea’s Place

The four was again Andrea, Barmy Kev, Maz and me. Pre bridge e-mail chat between me and Barmy Kev revolved around Kev being available early and wanting to meet for a pre match drink, whereas I was a mixture of unwilling and unable to do that. My final word on what seemed to have been quite a stressy day:

I need to clear some work before coming out this evening so won’t be around until 20:00 as expected.

Also expect to drive, as could do with a detox and will be pushed for time.

Afterwards, my e-mail to Andrea:

Just a note to thank you very much for your hospitality on Thursday. Super meal and good bridge too. Is Kev still there? Looking forward to seeing you at the next one.

Andrea’s e-mail back to me:

V funny! Kev obviously likes it here as he turned up early and stayed about 20 mins after you lot left. See you at the next one – and don’t forget to get your visa.

The reference to a visa must mean that Maz had just moved South of the river and that we were going to play at her new place next.

Despite the fact that Andrea and I are both “propa sarf” people…”deep sarf” in Andrea’s case (Sutton), by 2008, after so many years north of the river, we needed metaphorical visas when venturing sarf.

Provence & St Tropez, 22 To 29 April 2008, placeholder and links

This was a bit of an unusual week away for us. Kim had been persistently asking us to join her and friends in St Tropez for her birthday for a few years. We’d insisted that we didn’t think that St Tropez would be “our thing”. She wondered how we could judge such a thing without giving it a try.

So, our cunning plan to please everyone including ourselves was to arrange a fly-drive week in the South of France, initially doing our own thing for a few days…

and then joining up with Kim, Micky and others in “San-trop”.

Auntie Janet at Ultimate Travel helped us to construct our itinerary but I cannot find any papers from her, only this quote from her e-mail/invoice:

French Expressions holidays including flights;

Automatic car hire throughout and three nights accommodation

in a Junior Suite at L’Auberge du Chateau de Berne on a bed

and breakfast basis

So, in brief, we flew to Nice and picked up a car for our week in France. We stayed three nights at the delightful Chateau de Berne Hotel and Spa.

We did a bit of touring…

…together with a lot of resting, wining and dining; three nights there. Lovely sun deck for reading; great to try their wines and we even played some ping pong (Daisy’s favourite, because she normally wins).

Then on to St Tropez for four nights at the Tahiti Beach Hotel…

…where Kim and Micky regularly stay. We arrived the day before the others, so played tennis and then ate at a Vietnamese restaurant named Bahn Hoi, recommended by Anthea. Very nice but also very pricey. That’s St Tropez for you.

Next day we have an early morning snoop around the market…

…then finally meet up with Kim and Micky for lunch at Tahiti that day.

We worked off the lunch on the tennis court. Dinner that evening is at Villa Romana, with Robert, Fiza and their son/girlfriend too. A very fashionable place but it is heaving and displeases me; food ordinary apart from the price:

Next day, we played tennis in the morning. Indeed, we played tennis at Tahiti on the tennis court there a few times. Not the best surface we have ever played on, but far from the worst. As our short stay went on, we found it harder and harder to play tennis for an hour; a cautionary tale for all of us.

Same gang as last night for lunch at Tahiti; then after siesta an evening at a St Tropez nightclub, Stefano Forever.

I was dreading this one but actually it was more fun. As it was pre-season, the show was a tryout and we were the only guests, so we got to have a lot of fun as audience participation could only be us…

…and we were the only possible invitees to the after show party…

…Janie even tried her hand at pole dancing…of sorts…

…she got a wee bit better at it remarkably quickly when she actually took up pole dancing some 10 years later:

…but I digress.

The final day was Kim’s actual birthday. Despite the excesses of the night before, lunch between the four of us (the Robert Anthony family, perhaps knowing the score, made themselves scarce that lunchtime) was a boozy and celebratory affair:

Indeed, after siesta Janie swore that she couldn’t make it to the arranged dinner for six of us (son and girlfriend were gone by now) at L’Auberge de Maures, but then changed her mind. In this photo, I look almost as rough as I felt.

In truth, our view that this sort of eating and drinking extravaganza is not really our thing was reinforced by this trip, but we made Kim happy for her birthday that year and at least we can now say we’ve tried it.

Lots more photos, including those above, in this Flickr album, but surely more for the cognoscenti (i.e. those who were there) than for general consumption. I probably can construct a few good tales from the trusty journal once I get around to it; for now here is the indecipherable scribblings: Provence and St Tropez April 2008 Journal Notes.

Dinner At John and Mandy’s House In Saffron Walden, 5 April 2008

All the diary says is…

6:00 John and Mandy

…with their Saffron Walden telephone number. Nothing on the e-mail about it.

So I think this must have been the occasion we went to their house in Saffron Walden for dinner, probably the first time, without arranging to stay anywhere.

I think Janie volunteered to drive home but afterwards said that she was through with night driving on unfamiliar country roads – don’t blame her – so we have always made an overnighter of it since.

On arrival, I seem to recall that we got a guided tour of the estate, several elements of which I seem to recall were still up for debate at that time – e.g. where would John locate his drum kit and where would Mandy locate her professional practice room.

This was a very enjoyable family meal with the girls there as well (perhaps Lydia only joined us later in the evening, or perhaps I am now confusing two such evenings). For sure John cooked a blinder (he always does), I suspect it was loosely based on Indian cuisine but not too hot and spicy as he knows that Janie only enjoys spices if the food is not too hot.

John might remember the exact details of the meal; if so, with a bit of luck, he might be persuaded to chime in with a comment to flesh out the delicious details.

Still Quasi After All These Years, Bridge At Mine With Andrea, Maz And Barmy Kev, 3 April 2008

Our regular bridge four had rather fallen into decline at this time. Gavin decided he was too busy running Charing Cross Hospital or something…

…and we struggled to find a fourth.

Then, in early February, I wrote to Andrea:

It was good to speak the other evening, Andrea. We discussed a possible bridge. I have a fourth person “quasi-lined-up”, although without dates of course. I propose mine as the venue on that basis.

Andrea replied:

Good to speak to you too, Ian & thanks for finding a 4th – gather his name is Quasi!

Little did she know then that I had lined up Barmy Kev, whom I knew from Middlesex cricket and his occasional appearance on the field of play in Z/Yen colours:

Ged Tries To Keep His Head While Kev Fly Slips, MTWD “Lost Masterpiece” Three Part Match Report on Z/Yen v The Children’s Society, Holland Park, 26 June 2007

Strangely, though, Barmy Kev really can play bridge. No, I don’t mean, “is someone who has more or less picked up the rules of the game of bridge and is therefore marginally more effective at the game than plankton”…

…I mean “Barmy Kev can REALLY play bridge”, in that it was almost embarrassing to have someone who can play at his level grace the kitchen table of people who play at our level.

Still, Kev likes good food, good wine and good company and my regular group could do all that as well as the best of ’em, so this arrangement proved to be more than a one off. I’m not sure that it was a “more than the fingers of one hand” off, but it was not a one off.

Maz, who I guess is now really quite good herself as she was keen to progress beyond our kitchen table stuff, chimed in afterwards to say:

…thanks so much for great evening last night – food and bridge was great. Good that Kev is so good.

I get the impression that I didn’t play so well. Message from Kev:

I would like to thank you for your hospitality last night. The food , drink, company was excellent. The Bridge-well you can’t have everything. Anyway, all good fun and would definitely be up for next one.

My reply to Kev:

It was good to see you. I didn’t think your bridge was that special last night – rust and vino veritas don’t mix it seems! My bridge I thought was exemplary.

Andrea’s thank you note, read so many years later (January 2019) made me chortle:

Just wanted to thank you for a really lovely time the other night. Great to see you, fab food, wonderful company and bridge wasn’t bad, either. Just one Q – when looking for a new bridge partner, was your criteria to find someone who is the complete opposite to Gavin in every conceivable way??

Note to Kev: Andrea unquestionably meant that kindly. It’s just that you REALLY aren’t like Gavin, in any conceivable way.

On the field of play, Gavin would have worn whites, not pinks, for a start

Iberico Ham Party, Easter, 23 March 2008

We returned from our trip to Barcelona, Northern Spain and Rioja a few days before Easter, having pre-arranged a small gathering for Easter Sunday. It seemed only polite to bring some amazing Iberico ham back with us, together with our new-found Rioja expertise.

Add to that some of those Lindt Easter Bunnies, without which it simply wouldn’t be Easter…and good friends of course…the result was a good fun gathering.

Not all that many pictures, but the pictures are on Flickr here. I think I took most of these – looks as though it was my camera this time anyhow.

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