Reunion

We all returned to the village today. Not to the manor, but the canteen. We had originally planned on visiting so we could pick up our extra bag but we arrived early yesterday (due to Sarkozy flying into Dublin) and so S decided he would get the bag yesterday afternoon. Excellent plan, though he did return at peak hour on the tube which was very crowded. Apparently he had some guy's elbows in his face which made him cranky. You know the type. Guys that spread their legs on public transport or take over the armrest.
So today we made the trek without the prospect of lugging a large bag back on two trains and a bus. Much easier with S, Jack, myself, the stroller, Jack's seat and a bag with all his stuff and some books I was posting home (they'd been hiding in the other bag). Today we travelled at a better time and I think it only took two hours (the marvels of British public transport). S headed up to the institute while I posted home ten kilos (yes that's 10 KGs) of books then did a spot of shopping and hurried up to the canteen for the reunion.
We saw some familiar faces from the manor including Enrique and Ambrose, but of course the face that Jack (and myself) were most keen to see was that of the lovely Rebeca. She and Jack had a little cuddle and after some lunch he joined their table for a chat and with quite a bit of encouragement performed his newish stompy dance.
Apparently the food is still very spud focused at the Manor (two kinds of potato with your meal) but as I was telling Rebeca and Enrique, with food prices going up in Britain there has been a big increase in the sales of potatoes and white bread. So the manor is really on trend, or even ahead of the trend. Both Rebeca and Enrique will be escaping the Manor soon and I'd like to congratulate them on surviving the carb overload that is the Manor. I am glad however that they were staying there as my father-in-law would say, "it's nice to meet nice people." though he normally says that with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek.We also saw Brian and Jo and the lovely Sue (don't forget the asparagus recipe Sue). A lovely time was had by all and then we walked back to the station for our trip back to the very lovely Heathrow and that minibar.