Happy Times..

At 12.00 on Saturday 18th August 1990 Mark and I got married at St Lawrence's Church, North Hinksey, Oxford.  Last Sunday the whole family got together and we all took a joint trip down memory lane to celebrate our Silver Wedding.  St Lawrence's is a tiny medieval church that is normally locked, so I organised with the vicar that we could pop in at the end of the morning service.

 

Mark and I re-enacted the 'Standing in the Church Doorway' photos..

 

Hmmmm - Here's the original..

(I definitely wasn't going to recreate the 1990s perm for the event!!)

 

 

Then we all walked a hundred metres or so down the lane to the pub (The Fishes at North Hinksey).  This was where Mark and I, and my sister and her friends, did most of our socialising in the late-80s.  It's become very popular again recently because it has a large, informal, river-side garden with lots of deck-chairs and traditional garden games.  They provide picnic hampers for groups who want to continue the informal theme... but we were lucky enough to be given a table on the veranda.

The weather was perfect for eating outside on Sunday afternoon - warm enough to be comfortable but not too hot for those people with their backs to the sun.

 

In this photo you can see (from L to R)

- younger niece (I), older niece (H), Mark and I, and Mark's brother (P).

 

 

In this photo you can see (L to R)

- P's partner's son, Mark's Dad, P's partner, my Dad and Mum, and my Sister's Husband

 

I decided months ago that I didn't want a big party for our Silver Wedding and this family lunch worked out perfectly.  My family and Mark's family haven't really met socially since my family moved away from Oxford shortly after our wedding - so everyone was on their 'best behaviour' and made the most of the time to catch up.

 

This evening Mark and I are going to have a quiet meal together.  I've splashed out and bought us some steak (which we never cook at home normally) and we'll have it with some herby new potatoes and salad.  I've also sorted chocolate mouse with fresh rasberries for pudding.  Mark's brother gave us a bottle of champagne at the weekend which I think we'll open too.

 

It's Mark's 49th Birthday tomorrow too - so he may well open his presents from me this evening.  It will be a lot more chilled than trying to do anything at 6.00 in the morning and we have more family and friends coming round tomorrow night.  (Celebrations are a little bit like buses in our household... you have to wait ages for them then loads come along at once.  Yesterday was a close friends birthday, Saturday will be another friends 35th wedding anniversary, then we have both my parents' and Mark's Dad's birthdays over two days at the beginning of September)

 

Other news... my older niece (H) got two As and a B at A level last week.  We are all very proud- because the last 18 months have been a bit of a disaster for her in several ways.  She wasn't in a position to apply to uni last year, so she's going to take a year out then apply for a nursing degree.  She hopes to work for 8 months then travel to South Africa to see relative's on her father's side of the family.

 

It also occurred to me that you may wish to hear a little about my continued progress through 'Great Escape', as 'phony retirement' (aka Six Weeks paid Summer Holidays) ends and real life outside the classroom starts on September 1st!  This probably deserves a post of it's own in the next couple of days..