Our Last Saturday Get Together,

yes the last one, we have had friends call round every Saturday for over a year now, we have had some great times, but even though everyone brought food and drink with them it still meant a significant financial weekly out going for us, which with today's economic climate we can no longer afford to do, so many thanks to every one that called in over the past year, we have all had such fun times, but on to the last one, of course Mr. Tony was here,

along with Mark, and Big Jim, Mark as usual carved the chicken, Mike and Riza also called in,

'Cheers!'

for the evenings meal Diana had cooked mince beef with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots,

Mike looking serious, we were talking about the different qualities of stainless steel, made with iron, chrome and nickle and the associated problems of welding it, primarily using argon instead of air so it does not corrode in the welding process called Tig Welding or GTAW - Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, it was a pity Phil was not here as metallurgy is also his field of expertise,

we had finished the food when Chanel and Eric called in,

as it was our last Saturday Big Jim came prepared with bottles of vodka, gin and tequila,

oh no! another empty bottle! but Big Jim was helped in emptying it by Chanel and Eric, all to soon it was time for our friends to leave, so Diana and myself settled down to watch The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Red Circle, a nervous landlady brings a mysterious boarder to Holmes' attention, leading to a secret society and the efforts of a young couple to escape their past, we are getting near to the end of the series, the actor playing Holmes Jeremy Brett was in fact dying, his appearance in these later episodes could not be disguised, the effects of the life saving drugs he was taking plain to see,

his death at the age of 61 was the result of cardiomyopathy (heart failure), Brett's heart valves were permanently scarred by rheumatic fever, which he suffered as a teenager, medication later prescribed for his bipolar disorder, and his longtime smoking habit, also weakened his heart, Brett would often buy three packets of cigarettes in the morning, and smoke them all during the course of the day, which of course did not help his already failing health,

once again a sincere thank you to all of our friends over the year for bringing such good health and cheer to our Saturday gatherings, then off to bed.