Up Town Funk

I limited my intake to a single coffee this morning. I had a trip. Today was the Autumn lunch for the Band of Brothers. This is the event for which I did a recce about two weeks ago. The original cast of 7 has dwindled to 4 since I booked the table, but illnesses and sudden hospital appointments can’t be ignored at our age. Di dropped me off at the station, and I settled with my Kindle for the couple of hours it would take to get to London Victoria. Di, in the meantime, had a day planned around the Haskins Garden Centre!

The journey to London went without a hitch, the train arriving in Victoria within a few minutes of the schedule. I dropped down into the Tube and made my way to St Pancras. I was a little early, so I took a slow stroll through the concourse, stopping to look at the various shops and to admire the Christmas decorations (even if they were up before Di's birthday, which is the next festival that we should all be celebrating).

I wandered into The Betjeman Arms, and I was shown to our table. Brian arrived almost immediately, followed by Charlie and Paul. We chatted at length. Charlie had had a serious health scare during the summer, and this was an opportunity to get the whole story from the horse's mouth. In summary, he had a significant blockage in his carotid artery. Over the next few months, after many tests, they decided to operate and remove the spongy blockage. This appeared to go well, but he later developed an infection, which also proved to be incredibly serious. After another stay in hospital, he now appears to be well, and he has been discharged. He will, of course, need annual monitoring. 

When we had heard the details of Cjarlie's health scare, we were ready to look at the menu. I started with "Honey and Mustard Roasted Snags". No! I didn't have a clue either. It turned out they were inch-long slices of sausage cooked in honey and mustard... and they were delicious. I follwed the snags with "Brixham Cod" cooked with fennel, Fowey mussels and 'nduja butter. It was good choice. We carried on chatting until Paul had to leave for an afternoon appointment. Brian left at the same time, but Charlie and I carried on for another 30 minutes or so, the caught the Tube together to start our respective journeys home.

I got to Victoria just in time to catch the 15:35 train to Bognor Regis, and settled into First Class for, what turned out to be, a quiet and uneventful journey.

It was Parents' evening at Ellie's school. Though I usually attend, I was still on the train at the appointed time, so Di went along with Zoe. The feedback was very good, and her teacher has no concerns at all about her progress and her application in class.