Well I made it down to Brighton on Friday afternoon, timing my journey perfectly to allow me to rush into Boots for cough medicine and Strepsils (plus a fortuitous 3 for 2 offer which I won't mention) before meeting Lisa from work. We spent the evening at the home of 'L', or 'Lorraine' as she prefers to be called on other people's blogs. Lisa and I turned up fashionably late after deciding to miss the turning and head north towards London, but fortunately the avocado starter which had been lovingly prepared for us hadn't gone off. Unfortunately neither had the prawns, so I was forced to eat those too.

But we had an enjoyable evening of fine food, including duck sausages (which sounds like a warning at a food fight) and apple crumble with ice cream. Which is all the more remarkable when you know that Lorraine doesn't have a working freezer. I took notes on how to operate the dishwasher and washing machine, and more importantly bonded with the cat of the house, so I think I'm all set to move in in the near future. I'm sure Lisa won't mind.

Lorraine also proved to be a rich source of childhood stories regarding Lisa's plastic footwear (she had to be pushed uphill in the winter) and a handy method of bunking off school using nothing but a bag of mini cheddars and a toilet. It was quite enlightening.

After such a successful evening, Lisa and I followed it up with lunch on Saturday at Brighton marina with another friend who was keen to make my acquaintance. She managed to make a bowl of profiteroles last longer than it took Lisa and I to eat a full meal, and told me about the time she left Lisa in her parked car for five minutes, only to come back to find that someone had crashed into it. Lisa, always alert and on the ball, hadn't noticed.

The afternoon went so well that we've agreed to go out again today for another bit of high tea mingling. Honestly, with all this socialising, we're never going to have time for our usual weekend walks.