Relatives & Friends

 On Monday night I went out for a drink with my nephew Robert (and his daughter Lola was also with us). Christopher had decided to go on a Jack the Ripper walk and Robert was disappointed he wouldn't get to see him. HOWEVER, as fate would have it, Christoper had changed his mind about the Jack the Ripper thing and was drinking in the bar next door! As Robert & I left the bar and were crossing the road, Christopher's friend Simon spotted us and Christopher surprised the life out of Robert by appearing from nowhere. Obviously we had to go back in the bar again to celebrate this happy chance meeting. Here's a pic of Christopher & Robert.

We decided to spend this week visiting relatives and friends. Starting on Tuesday 3 June the first visit on our list was to see my 94 year old Uncle John and his delightful family. We went by train to Orpington. David, my cousin Pauline's husband, met us at the station and took us to his house.

It was amazing to see Pauline again, as it must have been 50 years since I had seen her last. Even more amazing though was Uncle John. He is sprightly and in good health and bright as a button, and could converse on any subject without skipping a beat.

We had a very nice meal and got to meet Pauline & David's three lovely daughters. Pictures of the visit are below.

The next day (Wednesday) we struck out for Romford to visit my cousin June & her husband Dave. We had hired a car but getting to pick it up was another story! There had been a major accident in London the night before and london was in gridlock. It took us 90 minutes to get to the car hire place by taxi and then another 5 hours to get to Romford (which normally would have been about 40 minutes. Anyway, we did have a great afternoon with June & Dave and as an extra bonus we got to meet their kids (now all grown up) Paula (and her husband) and little David.

After leaving June & Dave we headed for a pub where I had arranged to meet a good internet friend of mine Natalie. I had only met her once previously in New York but that meeting was very brief, so it was good to spend a bit f time with her getting to know her better. Here's a pic!

Next day (Thursday) we had a long drive down to the Hastings area where we met up with my cousin Eileen & her husband Fred. Fred is a bit poorly but he seemed a lot better than what I thought. It was only when we were about half way home that we realised that we hadn't taken any pictures. :-[

Friday was a day spent preparing for the wedding, so not much to report there.