The gift.

Over time I have made many lasting friendships through being part of Mythago. Some have now left, but I have kept in touch and we still manage to meet albeit on a far less frequent basis. One couple are due to be getting married in the Autumn....indeed they should have got married in May 2020, but they have now set the date for the third time so fingers crossed. Unfortunately we were due to be away this time, so we invited them and three other mutual friends over for a bbq as a chance to catch up. Amazingly we managed to find a date that suited us all.

As is oft the case here the minute you dare utter the words "BBQ" it's fatal....the heavens open and it buckets down. That was pretty much it in our case, but we had thankfully already worked out a wet weather backup plan and everyone was still happy to come over [good ventilation and all that]. Hand on heart I was quite nervous....we're quiet old sticks really and I am very much out of practice with this socialising malarky. I need not have fretted though....we soon found our feet and it all went off well. There was a lot of laughter and nattering and it was just so lovely to all be together again. It's been two years since I last saw some of them now they're no longer local. Even better we can now go to the wedding too!

I love it when people go to the trouble of making me things that are to my personal taste. My love of prehistory and all that goes with it is well known and one of the chaps made me this fabulous amulet. He spends a lot of time walking with the dogs and often picks up worked flints. This one came from a field near Avebury and is now sitting happily alongside some of my other treasures on my shelf. I didn't set out to have a shelf of dark coloured things....it's just evolved as I've been given things!

Arilx

PS Whilst on the topic of meeting up with old friends you may remember the blogger Lovely Grey. As you probably know she and I have become real life friends after meeting through blogging a few years ago and up until Covid we would meet in London a couple of times a year. Obviously that hasn't been able to happen, but we speak regularly. She has returned to her Lovely Grey Day moniker, but not her original blog [in part due to her changed circumstances]. If you enjoyed her writing [she has a great earthy sense of humour and a very positive approach to life] she's now here https://lovelygreyday.com/