leaving home

Last night was a stunner, after eventual breakfast at my mother's; and the unexpected pleasure of having a visit from her cousin Robert while we there there, my sister and I toured about town (which has become unbelievably shabby since I was last here) I declared stumps and we retired to the Old Schoolhouse for coffee and the ability to sit outside and enjpy a cigarette with it.

We decided to eat on the balcony there and to have a final drink on the outside terrace with more smoking, and so it was done. We split a bottle of wine with a pleasant meal before going back down to the bar and ordering our drinks.

Out of nowhere, a tall good-looking young man accosted my sister. How much coincidence to find our 'Nephew', his sister, her fiancé, their best man, and later their parents, to be in the same pub we'd picked by chance? We ought to apologise for gatecrashing and practically taking over the leaving party they were at, but it was so wonderful to spend the time with them all. I'd forgotten how raw a Saturday night in town can be, and am entirely out of practice in situations where people know what I drink and just keep setting them up. It means I entirely lose track of how MUCH I'm drinking. The saving grace was probably that the drunk fishmerchant trying to chat me up, entirely disbelieving I was on the phone with my lover, managed to knock over my drink when I was outside, and my sister managed to knock over the next drink when I got back inside. We were pretty much slaughtered and didn't leave till about midnight, but then, Oh surprise! carried on drinking (martinis by then for me) and sharing deeply emotional sister2sister conversation.

Top night; I'm sad to be going home today, and even more sad that I'm not actually going to get home to my own house but to an hotel in Holland where I will be until Thursday night. Double invites for Saturday, an attempt to fit in seeing my brother and his wife who left for MK the day after I came up here, and the shorts, who I miss, before probably losing next Sunday afternoon and evening to travel to Germany.

"However the sky grows dark with invitations, However we follow the printed directions for sex, beneath it all...." (Larkin)

PS my sister did my ironing today and we're about to have another drink in the house before I get back on the hamsterwheel and set off for Schiphol. *wail!* I don't want to go!!!