I really was supposed to be doing some work for my assignment on Friday morning – well I did some reading and took some notes anyway.  Then I took a little wander over to Facebook and discovered that Jason Manford was giving away pairs of tickets to the Laugh Inn at Chester.  Nothing ventured, I emailed and was successful in getting tickets for me and lovely hub for Saturday night.

In need of fresh air by mid afternoon on Friday, we drove off to Otterspool and watched the tide sliding out with some reasonable cider and crisps – a little too much cider in my case so that the subsequent food shopping trip took on a whole new and vaguely hysterical dimension.  Still managed to get the ingredients together for a reasonable curry that hub is still happily eating a couple of days later (I still cook for a family even if there’s only the two of us).  College Boy was offered curry but turned up his nose once he realised that I was putting  ‘seeds and pod-things’ (coriander and cardamom) in it.

All the more for us then 🙂

I ironed once I’d sobered up – nobody died or even got burned.

Saturday and I was on call from nine to five (six in the end due to a late call that had to be logged before I could finish).  It was a busy day and almost every crisis that could occur did occur – no births though just for a change.  Sorted them all out in the end but nine hours of having my bum glued to an office chair in my back bedroom and my ear glued to the phone,  is not the best preparation for an evening out.  Hub fed me at lunchtime and whingeing cat provided some respite by crying for a cuddle at least four times during the day.  The only way to quieten him down is to pick him up and hug till he’s had enough.  You can’t do much else with your hands full of cat so it’s a good stress reliever.  He does smell a bit though.  By ten past six I was in the shower and dropping hints that hub might like to put on a shirt instead of his usual polo shirt and jumper combo.

We liked the Laugh Inn a lot.  Nice atmosphere, our names were on the guest list, four excellent comics and Mr Manford lurking in the DJ box at the back of the room.  We didn’t feel old or unfashionable, there weren’t any mindless drunken hecklers and although the chairs were a tad wobbly – at least we got to sit down.  We’re going again and we’re quite happy to pay this time.  There’s something very liberating about spending the evening laughing till your ribs hurt with a bunch of other people who are laughing too. a far more palatable alternative to staying in and watching ‘The Voice’ or BGT.

Had the munchies on the way back but managed to restrain ourselves, avoid the kebab shop and wait till we got home to raid the fridge.  College Boy thinks we are dirty stop outs – yeah right.

My ribs had recovered by the following morning and we collected my Dad before lunch to do a small road trip to a food and craft fair in Macclesfield.  Not terribly exciting but we all like food, the sun was shining and Sundays are the worst day for Dad since Mum died because he can’t get out for one of his bus jaunts.  The fair was held in the grounds of a nice-ish stately home and lovely hub was immensely cheered to find birds of prey and a flying display scheduled. We got talking to the falconer, replete in moleskins and suitably torn tweed jacket; a lovely man who we could very happily have listened to for hours.

We bought cake.  We bought chocolate. We ate lunch and wandered over to the flying display.  We both like hawks and eagles and have seen dozens of these displays over the years.  In the early days of our relationship at a country fair in Michelmersh we both discovered this mutual affection for birds of prey and it was whilst watching my hub enthralled by an eagle owl swooping low over the crowd that I came to the conclusion that this was the man I’d rather like to spend the rest of my life with.

Flying displays are often tame and don’t really allow you to see the beauty of the flight or the real savagery of the birds; this one was different though.  The falconer took a few risks with his unpredictable birds and as a consequence what we saw was spontaneous, amusing and gave a rare insight into these lovely creatures. The falconer does a half day or a full day falconry at his farm and we were very tempted  – he says autumn is better though because he doesn’t like hunting young animals and he likes to get the ferrets out in the autumn.  Better start saving up.

Home for curry and a happy College Boy stuffing his face with chocolate and cake.  We were good parents.  It only lasted till bedtime when we became minging moaners for asking him not to scream, hoot and swear at his little (!) friends on Skype all night.

Happy anniversary for us today and we decided to stay home and chill (hub) study (me) eat and grumble (College Boy) whinge (cat).  Cards from the family, each other and the cat,  and a call from Uni Boy who may be coming home for a visit next week.  Hub and I are both on leave because he’s having a birthday in a week’s time and we don’t believe in working on birthdays

Chinese takeaway for all three of us tonight to celebrate 24 years together (have forgiven College Boy for his nocturnal screeching) .  A busy but very different weekend and more opportunity to expand the year of laughing dangerously (that just refers to my aching ribs and the dodgy chairs really).

Who cares about the crap government and the recession when you can go out and have a laugh?