40th birthday party's and sad goodbyes

We had a lovely walk this morning. Bess was off lead and we met Charlie and her owner and all three dogs walked along happy to be together and out in the sun.

I could have quite happily stayed in bed, with the fan on, gently snoozing the day away but seeing as I have less than 2 weeks in the office, I figured I had to get up and get on. Very tired though – partly from a brilliant weekend and partly from having a sore back and knees.

We drove up to the Cotswolds on Saturday, my partner and I and a friend of ours. We dropped him off at his hotel and then got to our hotel in plenty of time for a Panini and a rest. The theme of the party was Wild West and the birthday boy (boys actually because it was also his partner’s birthday and together they both worked really hard on the party). There was a bucking bronco (my partner lasted about 28 secs!), moonshine, saloon girls, a raffle, a rare appearance by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, a discount bar and the piece de la resistance was Boogaloo Stu and Princess Twinkle Knickers. Yes, birthday boy had brought Shinky Shonky to Shrivenham! (Shrivenham, where he lives, is a tiny little village in the middle of the Oxfordshire countryside – it will now never be quite the same again…)

Boogs was as ever eccentric genuius personified (on da stage and in da house) and Twinkle did a cheeky little number with some strategically placed fans and a new use for spare wine bottles. Storage issues can be so vexing... not anymore...

I was supposed to be a sheriff but actually looked like one of the Beverly Hillbillies. Although my fake moustache was a huge success and there are various pictures in existence showing the moustache in several guises (it wouldn't stick to my face so it either hung off to one side, or I stuck it to my breast or shoulder).

I danced too much – hence being in pain now – and we had an absolute stonker of a night. He had even laid on shuttle busses to get us to and from our hotels. We collapsed back in bed just after 1am. Which wasn’t bad seeing as we had been going since 6pm!

The next morning we headed to Sainsbury’s for a surprisingly good cooked breakfast in the café and then to the pub where after a quick drink we said our goodbyes and saddled up our horses…

We were further delighted to find that when we picked up Bess and Pluto from their boarding mum, they too had had a wonderful weekend and we all headed home tired and happy.

Unfortunately I came home to find I didn’t get a job that I wanted and we later on that evening had to say goodbye to a very good friend who is heading back to NZ for good. It was the first time she had met the chickens and Bess so we sat in the garden for an hour and didn’t think about saying goodbye until we couldn’t avoid it any longer. You get cross with yourself for never making enough time until it’s too late but it isn’t too late of course, we fully intend to visit her and I suspect she will be back for a visit at some point soon. I must invest in a web cam now though; I have several friends overseas and it would be nice to catch up face to face from time to time even if we are several thousand miles apart!