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Took the Zafira back at about 8.40hrs and then went to Halfords to get some TLC stuff for Miho’s car: oil, oil filter, oil flush thingy and some other stuff. Halfords was closed so I went home.

After a bit, Miho and I went to Cowbridge to see about getting some rings made. She was all prepared: 18ct white gold, rhodium coatless, d-shaped, “eternity” pair rings, hers with a single diamond in, both engraved on the inside with “Ma & Mi Am Byth” (Martyn and Miho Forever - in Welsh). The shop was closed so we went to Farthings and had coffee and cake instead.

I had sticky toffee pavlova. It was way too sweet, but hey! it was still early and I could do with a sugar/caffeine rush to wake me up!

Home and buzzing with sugar/caffeine, I decided to pile up all the bits of tree and shrub that Otousan had left littered about the garden. I tried to burn the lot, but the bulk of the mountain of offcuts I had created were of the evergreen variety and they had also been left on the lawn to assist in soaking up some of the recent downpours we’ve had. The fire wasn’t going anywhere - I gave up on a lost cause and the mountain still remains…

And then there was Les and the Bear! What a tonic!

Les, George and Gethin were there as Miho and I walked in. Reminiscing about our days in ATC - Camping in Merthyr Mawr, Prince Charles, the late Lady Di, and tomato sauce was one; Les and I checking an escape route in the Brecon Beacons, Les going ankle deep into a peat bog and stopping in his tracks, then me walking into the back of him and Les taking one too many steps and going thigh deep in the gloop was another; Parsons and his Morris Minor’s oscillating needle showing something between 70 and 90 miles per hour (usually on downhill stretches) another. How Les remembers all that he does I have no idea… But I’m glad that he does…