A belated Christmas "Do"

Mike had an orthodontist appointment this morning and was a bit scared of going because he hadn't been wearing his retainers as he should have done...I dropped him and Keith off at the surgery and went to park the car. When I joined them, Mike was already seeing the orthodontist, a new woman he'd never seen before. He came out and said she'd been brutal!

As a treat we bought him a McDonald's breakfast and dropped him off at the college well before his starting time of 9am. I did think we were going to be late, so that was a bonus. Before doing our shopping in Tesco I treated Keith to a bacon roll in Costa. The smell of Mike's breakfast had made me hungry as well!

On the way home we called to see my parents to have a coffee and a chat. Mum and I were supposed to have been going to Woburn today, to an antiques auction, but we found out (thankfully) that it was being held on the 25th February, not today. We used to go ages ago and I always thought it was on the first Thursday of the month but either I'm mistaken or they've changed the dates!

Anyway, not going meant that Keith and I had our long-awaited "Christmas Shopping Do." We put all of the stuff we'd bought away and went to the pub for a very pleasant couple of drinks. Ian wasn't in today so Laurie was behind the bar and it's always a pleasure to see him. He had a room full of farmers' wives who were busy ordering soft drinks so in between serving them we had a good chat.

Keith became so mellow that he booked a table for the three of us in the evening. I can't remember the last time we ate at The Royal Oak so I was looking forward to a relaxed evening without having to cook and clear away!

The afternoon was spent quietly and after we'd picked Mike up I had a lovely bath and got ready to go out. There was a great atmosphere in the pub as there weren't many people in and Ian was still away. It felt very relaxed. We enjoyed a delicious meal with garlic bread to start followed by steak in a pepper sauce for me, fish and chips for Keith and Piri Piri chicken for Mike.

Father and son sharing music!

Afterwards, Mike stayed in the village to see his mates while Keith and I returned home and watched an episode of Death in Paradise. A great ending to a really lovely evening!