When we went to the maltings for lunch yesterday I took a real fancy to this ivy covered house. It is the RSPB centre, so I guess over growth is a lovely blanket for nesting birds.
I would love to let the ivy enclose this house but I worry about the brickwork and the gutters. If the ivy joins forces with the weeds and grasses flourishing in the gutters it could get very dark in here.

We met some old friends there - after nearly an hour sitting separated by the cafe. We probably walked by in the middle distance without clocking each other. Fortunately A came for a look around and saw us discussing how much longer we should wait.
Timing is everything.
I only see A&D about once a decade so it is always a shock to see how I must have aged. D had a nasty cancer recently - there is no other kind, but one can be polite about this one, as he seems to have shaken it off.
It is weird linking up with old friends again, especially those made in the formative years [20s?] we chatted on as if we saw each other regularly, not just in occasional emails. I suspect we are actually talking to those people we were in our 20s and a shudder of disjoint derails a conversation now and again when opinions and attitudes no longer fit. Or maybe the way we saw it each other wasn't too accurate to start with.
In the main we were all the woolly liberals we always were.
The marshes were gorgeous in the sunshine, ducks and ducklings shovelling their beaks through the glistening mud. Seagulls yelling and cursing at each other. Older persons perambulating around in an eternal slow waltz.
Lunch at the Snail and Sail or whatever it was called, was very nice, I tried to be good and had fish, but was led astray into a huge, ginormous meringue topped with cream and strawberries.
A was warning me against processed meat consumption, she reckoned ham sandwiches were D's downfall, but i think huge mounds of sugar and cream can't do too much good either. But it was delicious.
RP's birthday today - fortunately we couldn't find room for dessert.