You'll catch your death up there with nowt' on Miss!

"Hello? Who's that? Hey, how you doin' Billy, good to hear from you. No, it's not too late at all, no, don't be silly. Uh-huh. Yes. Yep. Sure. No, that's fine. I said no, it isn't a problem, trust me, it's just one of those things. What's that? Yeah, 8 'o' clock is fine. Listen, don't mention it again ok, otherwise I might change my mind. *laughs*. Ok mate, see you on Saturday then. Take care, ooh, and say hi to Vicky for me. Yeah, bye".

Oh dear me, he's such a nice guy ......

Oh, hello faithful reader, didn't see you there. Sorry about that, I was just on the 'phone to my mate Billy.

Well, Billy to me of course, but you would have to address him by his full name which is William Alexander Sidney Herbert. He's the 18th Earl of Pembroke and 15th Earl of Montgomery and he lives in a delightful little cottage called Wilton House in Wilton, just outside Salisbury.

Anyway, he was ringing to apologise for not being at home when M and I popped in to see him earlier on today to congratulate him on getting engaged to his long term beau Victoria (lovely girl), and he wants to catch up with us next weekend.

Funny how things work out. It was just a stroke of luck really when, a couple of years ago, our other friends (Lord and Lady Parker) announced they were moving to Wilton, just round the corner in fact, from Bil ... sorry, William. Now we get to kill two birds with one stone, as it were, when visiting Salisbury and see two lots of friends in one go.

Not that we let the paths of the Pembrokes and the Parkers cross, no fear!

Title or no title, William's a bit of a ..... well .... how shall one put it? A bit of a ruffian really, and I sure as heck wouldn't want our close chums the Parkers to think we frequented the company of yobbo's!!

No Sir-ee Bob!

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that once again, we had a lovely time in Wilton. It really is a very pretty little part of our country and we very much enjoy spending time there. The Parkers are fine hosts and always make us feel very welcome.

If you're familiar with the posts regarding our previous trips to see them (see here), you will know that I often wake up feeling a tad sick on the Sunday - for some unknown reason - and feel unable to tackle anything that requires digesting. Well, wouldn't you know it, this very morning I woke up feeling 100% A-ok, no problems at all thank you very much and lo and behold, all I can put it down to is the fact that we were treated to a take away last night (ie, none of their dodgy cooking if you ask me) but I know M would be mortified if I ever mentioned anything!)

All I can say is, it's a good thing that Lord Parker can write 'cos he's a lousy chef!

Oh, didn't I mention it? He's a published writer and his book is due in a bookstore near you very soon. Do yourself a favour and pre-order a copy.

(Order it by clicking here)

And don't be fooled by the fact that the 'Lord' is missing from his Amazon page. He's a modest guy and doesn't crow about that sort of thing. Just get in touch when your book arrives and I'll have him sign something personal inside the front cover.

Arf!