Lunch today at the now completed mansion I mentioned here. . Breathtaking in all respects – the setting, the scale, the beauty and perfection of the design and every detail of the decoration. Not to mention excellent company, a first-class lunch and the Carnival masks provided for all to wear. J wore the nun’s costume he had acquired for HH’s 70th (to which he was accompanied by another five or six ‘nuns’). After the 70th, all the nuns were travelling home in the same van when they came across a drunken biker in a ditch. J, in full regalia, got out to help him, with the others all paralysed with laughter. The biker is probably still wondering if it was a divine intervention or delirium tremens. Today, J was disappointed that his wife wouldn’t allow him to wear the outfit all the way up from Rio.
 
At this time of year, invitations tend to come all at once, and we were invited for dinner back in town. After difficulty finding the place (well, we had left the address at home and the phone ran out of charge), we turned up 35 minutes late – to be greeted with “You really are extremely punctual (Brits have that reputation, which I personally do not merit) – none of us have had showers yet.” It was a good hour and a half before the third and last couple of guests arrived and we were a bit sleepy by the time we sat down to a wonderful dinner of salmon and other goodies. Just as well that as the designated driver, I had been on the wagon all day. HH hadn’t, but managed to stay awake. There was a lot of laughter and some highly informative stories about certain members of the golf club.