Hogmanay dinner

We had ten for our Hogmanay dinner. It is quite amusing that two of the four couples who came invited themselves.

ClarissaFox and Mr Fox made their request to come up from Manchester some time in the early autumn.

We then invited K and J to join the four of us.

On December 10th we received an email from M & A: 'So one of our lads is in exile in Sunderland doing panto. We are thinking of visiting him for moral support around Dec 30th. We could drive on... 130 miles to you. But that would be NYW... Hmmmm presumptious.'

J and L had taken out a futures-type option on coming over - at one point they had considered heading up north to see in 2015 - and confirmed their participation this morning.

On the menu were borsch; salmon en croute with green beans, baby tomatoes and roast potatoes; and fruit salad.

Blipped here enjoying pre-dinner drinks are L, J, K and Clarissa on the pale sofa; Mr Fox on my rocking chair; Mr hazelh taking a swig of Champagne; and J, A and M on the dark sofa.