Sunday, October 24, 2004

Kate and Ian's 10th wedding anniversary

Yesterday Kate and Ian kindly invited Mary and I and Bob&Lynn to join them for a meal to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. They were staying at the beautiful Howards House Hotel in Teffont Evias, Wiltshire where they had spent their wedding night. Bob kindly volunteered to drive which meant Lynn and I could do justice to the wine list.

The hotel is very cute and romantic and mostly peopled by couples. The restaurant was excellent, I went for the Table D'Hote which was v. tasty:
• a veloute of coconut milk and butternut squash with chickpea
• shoulder and rump of lamb on a garlicky puree
• cinnamon pannacotta with a plum compote
I wouldn't have been able to remember exactly what I had as the alcohol was affecting my memory but B&L just popped round to dig up one of our surplus shrubs and filled in the lacunae.

Ironic that Mary should not be able to attend as she had been Ian's Best Man. Yes I know it is unusual for a woman to be a best man but Mary is an unusual woman; extraordinary is how I described her at our wedding. She felt greatly honoured to be asked and gave an excellent Best Man's speech, introducing us to "Jenkinson's Syndrome" where the hands are so hot that the wine evaporates rapidly. Ian is a big lad and a glass (of wine or beer) generally doesn't last long.

And slept all the way home...

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