deflation

The nights are drawing in. This was impressed upon me as I walked from Ingrave back to Brentwood the other Sunday evening and found myself making my way through an increasingly shadowy and sinister forest with voices chanting 'Blood! Blood! Blood!' in my ear. It was one of those occasions where I question the wisdom of leaving my i-pod on 'shuffle'.

This weekend we had the annual Hunt family Hog Roast. Although it was as delightful as ever, Dave and I left uncharacteristically early, even before the bouncy castle was deflated, sealing another group of unlucky (?) kids inside it until next year. Ross and Christine had tempted us away into the sunset with the offer of a lift. Somehow we ended up in the Swan, which has been refurbished again. On this occasion, they have decided to make it look shit.

Ross is now Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party! Oh alright then, the Warley branch. Although they were a little alarmed when his first action was to change his name from 'Brown' to 'Braun': they are trying to live down their Nazi past. (The Warley branch, that is - it's a long story.) Ross also revealed that he no longer goes to yoga classes since they doubled the fee and I asked him whether he still turned up to protest, heckling during the relaxation sessions. He said no, but that on his last visit he managed a 'dirty protest' when he relaxed a little too much.

I'm sure he doesn't mind me telling you all this. Especially as almost none of it is true.