It had become a long-standing joke when Rob invited Steve and me down to visit his beach hut. It was 15 years ago when this invitation was first extended, but in all that time we had never been able to all get together at the same time.

So after a lot of diary shuffling we all managed to make a date for early August. There wasn’t much shuffling on mine and Jane’s part, being retired, and Rob has started to wind down a bit so no problem there…………..It was just getting Steve and Sara to finish early on a Friday afternoon……………..

While we were waiting for the workers to arrive, Rob decided to serenade Jane with his versions of The Beatles greatest hits.  Julia and I had both heard these renditions many times before, so we went for a swim!

When Steve and Sara finally arrived Jane was so plastered that she couldn’t get out of her chair……….mind you I was struggling myself!

And so, as we sat on the beach at Mudiford and watched the sun slowly set over Christchurch, we wondered if we might get another invitation to this lovely tranquil place…………….we had behaved ourselves well and Steve had almost been on time, give or take an hour or so, so I think we might be alright!

After all the wine we had imbibed it was just as well we booked to stay in Christchurch for the night. In the morning we were greeted by this lovely view of the River Stour.  After a hearty breakfast it was time to return home to pack for our cruise to the Canary Islands………