Friends & Family

It was a big weekend for the Fitch-Dudeks. On Saturday, Emily and Armando came out to the 'country' from London. They arrived in the afternoon. Ange and Anna met them in town and walked back across the Thames to Caversham. When I arrived back from field hockey, the tea was on, the biscuits were out and everyone was in good spirits. Anna darted around the room, playing with anything that she ought not to play with.

We're at a point in time where everything should go in a cup. So, one has to be careful where one leaves their mostly-finished tea cup. Keys go into the tea cup, keys come out. Mobile phone goes into the tea cup, mobile phone comes out. Camera doesn't quite fit in the tea cup at this angle, camera doesn't quite fit into the tea cup at that angle. Camera is disgarded.

We watched An Inconvenient Truth which was both facinating and spurred some great conversation. Whilst it was largely 'preaching to the choir,' it was still somehow comforting to see that a film about the perils of our wastefulness get the level of exposure the film has generated. One hopes that the message isn't dismissed out of hand through a sense partisan bias by those in the States who see themselves as Republican.

With Em and Armando staying over and Anna now into her room, Ange and I took the opportunity to test out the guest house. The "guest house," you ask? We live in a two bedroom terraced house, meaning that space is at a premium. At the bottom of our garden sits a shed. Of course, 'shed' or 'guest house' is a matter of perspective. If you're about to visit us, it is definitely a guest house. If you've just visited, it might be funny to tell people that we put you in the garden shed. But really, it is more guest-house-like than shed-like. Our garden is entirely decking, so you walk outside from the kitchen to the small wooden structure at the end of the garden, or about 15 feet. The previous owner had made it into his working office, so it is quality. The guest house is fully insulated and has double glazed windows. It has a de-humidifier and a heater. We have an extra heater there too. There's a full king sized (British king sized) bed. And, I can now say with authority that it is entirely warm, dry and comfortable and very private. Certainly, I would rank it as far superior to our original flat that we moved into.

On Sunday, we ventured into London for Emily and Armando's baby shower put on by their friends Dave and Dan. We drove in, which was a minor accomplishment for me as it took us right through the centre of London and I didn't get horrifically lost. Picadilly Circus is appropriately named. Dave and Dan have rented a fantastic flat in an old converted match factory. Very cool setting and a super party. The spread of food and games was second to none. Em has some top quality friends. Both Dave and Dan who through the party and the many, many people who came to celebrate with her despite the fact that noone here really knows what a "baby shower" is.

Ange, Anna and I charged back to 'Caversham-on-Thames' after the shower. Only one wrong turn without navigator Armando. It put us 20 minutes wrong but did take us over Tower Bridge. Twice. It is a very nice bridge.

Then, as if the weekend wasn't a resounding success, my old workmate Jasmine and a colleague of hers, MJ, made the trip out from London to ours for the evening. They're only in town for a couple of days from Calgary and their willingness to take the trip on a Sunday night is a testament to them. People-people rock. We chatted 'til late about all sorts and they're both the sort of people who get you excited about everything life has to offer! It was so good to see them. Fantastic.