Hello blog readers, long time no see!  I have been having a very busy time recently with fun things and work things and then I had camera trouble.  But here I am with a quick round up of some of the fun I have had lately.  Not much food in this one so if you read this for the food only you may want to delete now.

Last week 2 friends, who have no connection with each other except I know them both, one called Maryam and one called Marion, turned 50 on the same day and both their husbands arranged a surprise birthday party for them.  I wanted to go to both parties but as I had accepted Maryam’s invitation first I went to her celebration which was at Floridita which was conveniently close to my office.  On the way I stopped in to a colleague’s leaving drinks – this was never going to be a healthy and early to bed evening!  Floridita was excellent.  They have a lot of Cuban music usually but on this occasion they had a really good band called ‘High on Heels, which was an all girl band playing a variety of wood and brass instruments with an electronic background.  I loved it.  I also liked the Mojitos and endless champagne! It was great to catch up with some of the wonderful ladies I began working with in 1990 and have known ever since.  This is Olivia. Julia and Armundo. the birthday girl Maryam and Alison.  We really missed Kath, Katherina and Marie who were unable to come.  Thank you Maryam for inviting me to such a lovely birthday celebration. On Friday night I went to the local pub for the birthday drinks Marion arranged.  I was so tired after the previous night I was sure it would be a fairly quiet night for me.  Wrong!!!  I saw lots of lovely people, some of whom I haven’t seen for years.  It was an excellent evening and as Marion only lives over the road from me it seemed rude to not join her and Clare for a few more gins when the pub was fed up with us all.  I think you can see what kind of munchies we had too – not of the carrot and celery stick variety!  I did enjoy myself 🙂 On Saturday morning, a mere few hours after my weary head briefly graced my pillow with its presence, I was up and down on the South coast to drop Harvey off at an event. I decided to go along to Hastings, which I have never visited before.  I would usually enjoy choosing some very fresh fish but not that time. After tottering walking along the beach for a while and enjoying the sea air, I turned inland in search of The Old Town which I heard was very charming. I always enjoy an information board. So now I know that these huts are shaped as they are to accommodate fishing nets and lines. I have never been to Hastings before and I read no guide books or know anything about it but I turned up a street which drew me to it because of the extraordinary range of house styles I could see. It was absolutely delightful. Intriguing little alley ways. What a beautiful door. This house was built in the 15th Century! Look how close to the street the windows on this house are! The houses on the other side of the street are much higher. The sunshine and sea air helped clear my head and I really enjoyed strolling around Hastings.  I was finally ready for breakfast. I enjoyed 2 eggs Benedict in Petit Fi and a peaceful read of my book. Having been out all day I was out again, for another birthday surprise arranged by another husband for his wife.  There are some very thoughtful husbands out there.  We were out on Saturday to celebrate Fiona’s birthday.  We went to a Neil Diamond tribute act.  He was very talented and it was a hilarious evening, not all for the right reasons but again, it was lovely to catch up with some good friends/cousins.
After all the excess I made an effort on Sunday and made a mung dal and vegetable curry. It was not good enough to share the recipe but I ate another portion tonight so it is edible but not particularly enjoyable.

I have drink too much, eaten too much and exercised too little.  I work close to Europe’s largest book shop so I popped in last week to buy a couple of books I hope will help me.  I have been too busy to read them but am going to start tonight.  I am going to give up sugar and get back in the losing weight zone.