Sociable in the garden without tea

Earlier this year, I had visited my colleague Martyn in his current house. That had been really nice! And I hoped they would come in visit mine as well. And we had found a lovely sunny afternoon for that.

I had gone into work that morning, and just biked back a bit earlier. I could catch up on work in the evening. And while I was biking, my phone pinged. At some convenient point I checked what the messages were. One was Martyn saying they were about to head off. The other one was from the local water company saying there was a burst pipe in my area, and they apologised for reduced or no water pressure. Oops! Bad timing.

 

Area without water

I got home, and there indeed was no water. Oh dear! Martyn had said they would come over for a cup of tea in the garden. I could not serve tea. But I didn't think I needed to call the meeting off; I had fizzy drinks and squash and milk and alcoholfree beer. I could flush the loo with water from the water butt. And I had hand sanitiser. And there also is a stream I would happily drink from only a kilometre away. And for people who don't like that; there is a shop just down the road that sells bottled water. I figured we would manage.

Martyn, Malen and Dylan arrived. And I was glad to find out they agreed we’d manage. I showed them the house, and then we retired to the garden. They had brought bara brith, and we decided that goes well with red Schloer. So that’s what we had!

It was nice to relax by the river for a bit. And the dippers showed up too! But after a while Dylan, the 6-year-old, got bored and a bit cranky. That was the cue to break the meeting up. I hadn’t even taken a picture. But it had been good! And I hope we’ll keep this going. 

And just after they left the water came back on!