Family Night

As I write this blog, I realise that some of you will realise, there’s a few gaps in the entries – I should explain: The blog is written during my daily commute to and from work (not riding the Bickerton, I hasten to had; during the train journey). As such, the entries are only Monday to Friday.  However, that doesn’t mean to say I can’t talk about the weekend activities. So here goes...

As some of you will know, we – the Birmingham Bickertons – lead a busy life. My wife and myself both work full-time, we have an active church life and we are both studying (it feels as though I’ve been studying for the past fifteen years!!!). For the last ten years or so, it has been our habit to reserve Friday night as a family night. This, of course, does not exclusively mean only family, but it is a reserved night whereby we can invite people for dinner, relax after a long week and enjoy the company of people we love and like to be with (yes, that does include family).

Last Friday was especially good. My brother, who resides in New Zealand (more on this in future posts), inspired a good old fashioned Kiwi tradition – the pot-luck dinner. Essentially, you invite a load of friends around, they bring a load of dishes with them, and (somehow) it all works out that we have a great time eating each others food etc. Last Friday was no exception (my birthday dinner).

Sadly, my twin wasn’t able to make it – her family had booked a surprise dinner for her (it wasn't the same without her) – but some other good friends were able to come, and they all brought different dishes. This was the spread that we ended up with: Chicken curry, home-made Jambalaya, roast chicken drumsticks and thighs, boiled rice, salad, vegetables, melon, carrot cake, apple tart, ice cream (I’m sure I’ve missed something, but you get the idea). And there was only six of us!!!

My daughter was also away (she’s at Bristol university and was coming home on the Saturday - we were going to spend the day in Oxford).

I have to say, it had been a while since we had had friends round, and it was extremely pleasant to be entertaining again. I told them all about my new bike and the history of the Bickerton Portables, shared about the blog (this one), and evangelised about the pleasures of owning a Bickerton Portable.

A great evening – tomorrow (Saturday) Oxford: bike city!!