Hippie Barf Day

Despite my birthday not being until the 10th, I had a bit of a do on Saturday 5th (coincidentally, my Dad’s 75th birthday).

And despite me being shit at contacting people (a charming trait, rather than being intensely annoying, I assure you) lots of people turned out at theĀ TrafalgarĀ in Tooting. Thanks guys! It was great to see you all.

But before all that Mairi and I, accompanied by our good pals Suzanne and Eirian, went to Ferraris Brasserie in Balham, a meal livened by screaming German children upturning pasta over themselves. The tiger prawns were a bit too chilli-hot for me, but the Spag Bol* was great and the posh ice cream dessert thing was yum as well.

“A starterĀ andĀ dessert?”. A voice.

YES.

Eirian and I then had some liqueur stuff ‘to aid digestion’ which was very nasty indeed. At least cough medicine makes an attempt to taste nice. I should have had Grappa. Never mind, I had a delicious Sambucca at…

…the above pub. A very nice place, and one to go to if our purchase of the flat in Tooting goes ahead. (I’m scared to write about the move, for fear of jinxing it – I’ll fill you in later)

I was a bit embarrassed by the lovely turnout to be honest. I had made a crappy attempt at texting people 2 or 3 days beforehand, but to my delight it actually worked!Ā GrenĀ and Mags came all the way south, and Aubs cruised by, and many more besides.

My good pal Suzanne came all the way from Ely, carrying lovely gifts ofĀ MoleskineĀ notebooks. Mmm lovely.

Eirian gave me the fantasticĀ OnionĀ ‘Our Dumb Century’ pocket book, which is packed with great headlines like

“I also have a dream – Malcolm X”

and

“Holy Shit – Man Walks On Fucking Moon”

That’ll keep me going for a while. She also got me a globe! That can go in the smoking room in the new flat. It’ll go well with the decanters and the oak panelling.

It was a lovely evening – many people hadn’t met before, so it was good to see them getting on so well. Aubs, Gren and Robin were swapping film-making tips. Mairi, Mags and Ruth were having a good old chinwag (talking about shoes or makeup, probably)

I love it when a plan comes together.

*I haven’t had a decent Spag Bol for years, soĀ nyer.