Night Off

Dear Readers,

It has been the night of our birthday celebration.

Mark’s birthday is at midsummer, and mine is two weeks later, on the middle day of the year.

We don’t really do any actual birthday celebrations because we are usually too busy and broke and distracted, but this year Number Two Daughter said that she would like to take us out for a joint birthday celebration on a night which was in between our two birthdays.

That was tonight because of being Tuesday and everybody’s night off.

We have had the most brilliant night.

Number Two Daughter said some very kind things about having nice parents, and we had two bottles of champagne and the most divine dinner in the Swan at Newby Bridge.

My goodness it was lovely.

We dressed in our best and went down in a taxi. The Swan is beautiful, newly redone because it was washed away in the last floods. It has been decorated with pink and roses and other pretty things, which I liked. We ate and laughed and ate more, I had smoked chicken and corn on the cob, followed by a chocolate and peanut toffee pudding with clotted cream which I had to finish eating because it was superlatively delicious even though it made me feel just a bit sick in the end.

After that we had tiny black coffees and gorgeous warm brandy to die for.

We staggered out to the taxi and the driver made humorous remarks about intoxicated nuisances in the back.

I am not going to write any more because I am warm and drunk and full and gloriously happy with my lovely family. I love everybody and life is beautiful.

This is my happy ever after. Life is such a wonderful thing. I am the most fortunate person in the world.

Sorry I haven’t written more. I might have had too much to drink.

xxxxxxx