We Had A Telephone Call,

from Steve and Kai,

their decking has been finished and do we fancy a bar-b-q? we did not need asking twice! glad gags on and we were off,

it was a nice warm day with some cloud,

as we made our way to Steve and Kai's home it started to cloud over,

and here we are, the decking completed and really nice it looked too,

 new outdoor furniture in place,

so time for a bubbly,

easy goes it,

Ta-Dah!

careful,

Kai and Diana,

were busy,

preparing the cooker, 

and loading it with food,

we had some pork curls to snack on,

plenty of vegetables,

as Diana,

loaded the grill,

pork bellies,

and chicken,

were soon sizzling away,

Buddy made a early start!

all set,

just a few minutes more, 

nearly time to serve,

all set,

I forgot some franks were also on the grill,

Steve,

and myself tucking in,

still more added for us all, we were full to bursting,

then a surprise, Steve and Kai had bought a durian,

it has a rather pungent smell, in fact where we lived in Thailand it was banned on aircraft and busses, also hotels would not let you bring a fruit into the hotel, 

from this article: "The durian's smell has been compared to smelly gym clothes, rotting meat, and even raw sewage", Kai had popped indoors for some gloves,

I looked along the garden,

Steve's 3 bee hives half way down it,

Kai returned armed with gloves and a sharp knife,

the outer skin is incredibly prickly,

Diana was making a video for Kai,

the fruit open,

inside seeds,

and the fruit that surrounds them,

now to remove the fruit, carefully!

the first one out,

still a few to go,

nearly there,

meanwhile another bottle of rosé bubbly,

Kai carefully extracted more fruit,

all done!

in the background, 

Buddy was not impressed!

the fruit on the table,

and it was time to tuck in,

the verdict? delicious! as it happens whilst Steve, Kai and Diana love the fruit, I do not like it at all, having tried it 3 times, each time vowing that it would be the last!

I should mention, that it was Steve's birthday a few weeks ago, but this is the first time we have all meet up since then, so a card,

a book by Dr. David Sands, it is the first volume of a 5 volume set titled Catfish of the World, the volume of interest to Steve is about the Corydoras group that he likes, and in fact has a number of,

next the big one,

titled Honey Bees, we bought it for Steve on our last visit to the Natural History Museum, earlier this year in April, as you might have guessed we all had a wonderful afternoon and early evening, many, many thanks to Steve and Kai, we then made a move for home, where it was feet up to watch a Colombo, then a surprise, 

Diana had disappeared into the kitchen and emerged with slices of melon which were so juicy, wrapped in Parma ham on a bed of lettuce, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, delicious!

so 'Cheers!', it was, we then watched a Midsomer Murder, before we were off to bed.