The prisoner (nearly, anyway)

Today is the Minx's birthday!

However, even though she is someone who likes to make a fuss of other people, she was keen not to be the centre of attention, today. In fact, after a small celebration over breakfast with her daughter, that was to be the end of it.

This, I have to say, didn't sit well with me. I love birthdays!

I did try to respect her wishes but by the time I picked up Abi, this evening, I knew I was going to have to pop in and pay a surprise visit, if only for a few minutes, to give the Minx her presents. I checked with Abi: it was two be a longish roundtrip with no guarantee that anyone would be home when we got there.

Less than an hour later, we were at the top of the Minx's road but, as I'd feared might be the case, her car wasn't there. Abi looked at me, evidently wondering whether I had a plan B. "That's OK, Abs" I said, "I know a great little place by the canal where we can get a lemonade and we'll come back again in a bit." What I neglected to mention, though, was the fact that I wasn't entirely sure how to get there.

We ended up driving along the road to Botany Bay (which is the large brick building to the back of the photo). As we were about to pass through some gates, the car in front drew to a halt. A young man was walking towards the vehicle and I assumed he was being picked up, so - muttering under my breath about people stopping in the middle of the road - I swung past and headed down along the road, which ran alongside the canal.

It quickly became evident, though, that once you'd passed Botany Bay, the road fell into disrepair. I pulled up and wondered what to do. There seemed nothing to do except to retrace our footsteps and try another route. I turned the car round and drove back up the road. To my horror, I saw the gate ahead was closed and locked!

A hundred yards away on the far side, though, was the car we'd passed earlier, slowly driving away. I flashed my lights manically and tooted the horn. Thankfully, the car stopped and the young man came back to let us out.

I'm pleased to report that after that near disaster, everything went well. When we got to the house, the Minx was very happy to see us and we had a birthday takeaway, a bottle of fizz and then presents. Happy birthday, Minx!