Sugar bladder

What a full day! For everyone. Whether in London or lost on the way to Compton, it was very full.

Andrew, Lauren and Jason headed off into London where they planned to meet Preston at Kings Cross station. While Jason waited at Starbucks for his friend, Lauren visited the Harry Potter shop while Andrew queued for an hour so Lauren could pose for a photo on Platform 9¾…as you do. (Apparently the queue can last three hours in summer.)

Having met Preston, they moved on to the London Bridge Experience and tombs, which they all enjoyed.

In the meanwhilst, here in Surrey, Fi sat in on Mirinda’s guitar class with Teacher Dave before heading to the Holly Bush for brunch then (after a few hours sat around the fire) on to Waverley Abbey for a wander round the ruins.

They then headed off to Compton to see the chapel and then Watt’s Gallery. Of course, as usual, Mirinda managed to get lost trying to find the chapel but all was eventually well.

While they were all doing fun family things I was off getting fish. Tuna, yellowtail and sea bass, to be exact. Tonight’s dinner was to be a Japanese feast so sashimi was a must. There’s no fishmonger around here so it was a case of heading for the Japan Centre.

The Japan Centre has moved. Fortunately it’s only moved in the opposite direction so it’s about the same distance from Piccadilly Circus as it was but in a different road. And it’s nicer, with a bit more space. And it was incredibly crowded. I bought up the shop then headed back to Waterloo then home. (It’s worth noting that I watched a very upsetting episode of The Walking Dead on the train home – I can’t say anything else because Lauren has yet to watch it.)

I’d no sooner reached home and unloaded the fish into the fridge than it was off, up to Waitrose for the rest of the ingredients.

I’d planned quite an extensive feast…

…and started creating.

I started at about 3pm and it was pretty much non-stop from then until eating. Gradually the tourists drifted in and stared at their various devices before starting to decorate the tree. There was a bit of concern over the non-working status of the Christmas lights but after a brief rearranging of working berries in place of plain lights, it was soon twinkling away all festive and fabulous.

Meanwhile in the kitchen along with my sous chef, I was heading inexorably towards plating up and filling the table. I have to say that it was a tough job setting out the plates in the available space but Jason did an amazing job. The table looked quite wonderful.

And then, finally, there was nought to do but eat. And eat. And be pleasantly surprised. Fi admitted to me later than she’d been a bit sceptical but instead was more amazed at how lovely it all was. And I was given a delightful round of applause for my efforts. It fair made me blush and was much appreciated…both ways.

And the crowning glory was, of course, the addition of Madonna onto the very top of the tree. And then, the removal of Madonna, cutting of the tree top and replacement of Madonna on the top of the tree, courtesy of Andrew.

The title comes from a discussion about sugar gliders that Fi started. Both Mirinda and I thought she said sugar bladder and I assumed she was telling us about a person who had a bladder that reacted badly whenever sugar was ingested. Weird but very funny. Though we didn’t hear about the sugar gliders…

And I promised not to mention Jason and his dubious love of the hotel laundry workers of Dubai…so I won’t. Oops…