Friday at the neighbours
We walked around to Sean & Sheila’s house with a bunch of food to be greeted by a warm welcome from the hosts and Rory. Milo has entered that dark age of teenage existence when surrounded by adults. He tends to be quiet anyway so nothing really unexpected.
Rory is a lively character and very much in the mould of his father, while Milo seems to be much more like Sheila. Anyway we all had a good time. They are very good hosts and the food, all vegetarian was excellent on both sides. Maggi tried a dish that Gilll had brought over for Maggi and my help while she was more or less incapacitated with her recent illness. We both liked it a lot and so Maggi made it for the neighbours. Sheila provided a chickpea dish which I really enjoyed. I hope Maggi picked up the recipe.
On the Saturday we arranged to meet up with Kay and Ian at the Sea Pebbles in Hatch End.
We arrived just before the appointed hour of 7 pm and grabbed a table. A full house made the place quite noisy. No sign of our friends until 7:15 when I spotted them walking slowly along the pavement in front of the restaurant. When they arrived they gave a very petty apology and we sat down to order and eat. Kay as usual talked about the people she knows and their lives. I sympathised with her about the recent death of her mother. Ian said virtually nothing. We ate our meal and then returned to our house.
The same situation continued with Kay and Maggi doing all the talking and me chipping in to comment. Ian remained stubbornly silent. This didn’t make for a great evening. As they left I spoke to Ian while in the hallway. Out of the reach of Kay he suddenly had plenty to say.
I happened to see him on the Monday for a walk from Watford Underground station to the Prime Steak and Grill in Chandlers Cross. I asked him about his quietness on the Saturday. He initially put it down to the noise of the restaurant and the fact that his hearing is getting worse, but it soon emerged that their marriage is not that happy at the moment. I hope this changes soon.