Eid Mubarak!

Today was our staff “away day” which means that we are given a half day to do whatever we like with a view to “deciding on the future of our department and where we are heading”.

Taking into account that the project we are working on is coming to a close at the end of the year, we thought we might make better use of a free day by going ten-pin bowling (in Bloomsbury) followed by a nice meal afterwards.

We didn’t end up eating until quite late in the afternoon (at the excellent Turkish restaurant Efe’s on Great Titchfield St), so when I arrived home and M asked me if I wanted some dinner, I put my hands to my stomach, grimaced and said that I was still too full to eat anything.

An hour or so later, M reminded me to take across our Eid gift to our neighbours, consisting of sweets and pastries. This I duly did and was invited in, as I am whenever I take across gifts. They then proceeded to insist that I stay for something to eat and, no matter how many times I repeated my “full stomach” routine, they insisted.

“Thank you very much”, I winced, as I was handed a tray consisting of chicken and lamb chops with a huge mound of rice, a chocolate cake with cream and a glass of coke.

When I staggered in 50 minutes later, M laughed, saying she’d figured out what had happened.

Next year it’s her turn to take the food across!

Unless I miss lunch that day of course!!