NERDS Ramble No 326. Wed. 4th Jan. 2017.
Those Present – NERDS - Lafayette,
Darksiders - Ed, Marion, Sheila, Jane, Dave, Tim.
Lafayette's 70th Birthday Ramble.
Lafayette woke up that day with a feeling of doom. He realised suddenly that it was his birthday; that he had reached his three score years and ten; in effect, that he had become an old man
Then he thought “ Oh well, there have been lots of rambles where he didn't know how he got home; lots of outings with people he liked to have outings with, and that day he was going out with his two favourite rambling groups so what could possibly go wrong?”
Picking up his tough bodyguard, Matrix Man, Lafayette was escorted to Lewes on the bus where the NERDS were waiting outside the RunAway Caff with arms full of birthday cards. There was too a KitKat from the Ginger M......,
At this point however things looked as if they might fall apart.
People from all over Sussex began ringing Laf to say that their train would be late, that they had got lost, that their cat had gone missing, that their house had blown up etc etc. Lafayette was unfazed. “ No problem,” he said “ Just get down here when you can and we'll wait for you.” Then he and the NERDS (and bodyguard) retired into the RunAway to eat KitKats and drink coffee and brandy (thanks to the generosity of Froggy.)
Eventually the Darksiders turned up in dribs and drabs. Arrivals were so sporadic that the Bish christened this day as “The Shamble Ramble” but at least everyone managed to make the start. The weather was not unpleasant, quite mild in fact, and so after Froggy had taken a group photo outside the station
The route wound up Southover High Street, down a lane, round by the Rugby Club and past South Barn Farm where Lafayette's younger daughter, Dani Lafayette, was currently gainfully employed. Thereafter into Kingston where The Juggs was being prepared to celebrate The Birthday Bash. Now The Juggs has a nice long banqueting table in the back room which was able to seat a large number of people, and since we were fifteen that day it was ideal.
When Lafayette finally managed to extricate himself from making last minute arrangements (guess what, prosecco again) he found that his place at table had been adorned with a 70th birthday balloon
Toasts were drunk in prosecco
As usual in The Juggs the food and drink were excellent, and thanks must go to Ed for all his fetching and carrying. Matt came up to the Darksiders end of the table and amused everyone with anecdotes of the years he had managed to foil illegal immigration at Newhaven – mostly conducted from the bar on the ferry. Froggy invited everyone to his next book signing ceremony when he finally got round to finishing volume six of his autobiography
“All shagged out at fourteen.” and Dio threatened to disclose some of the secrets of his mafiosi friends in New York.
At this point the NERDS all paid up and went off to be driven home by Matt. No more rambling for them. Apparently they finished the proceedings drinking in The Shore at Seaford so not a waste of an afternoon after all. The Darksiders woke up Sheila and set off back to Lewes via the windmill and several muddy fields. Dio took lots of photographs of ferocious cows and of Lafayette hanging on to his balloon and feeling like the famous picture of Winny the Pooh.
On arrival at the Lewes bypass Shaz scuttled over the high bridge saying that she had this phobia about large bridges over busy traffic. Apparently the experience, together with a certain amount of alchohol, makes her think she can fly - which is not usually a good idea, so she had to be dragged into both The Swan and The Kings Head at Southover to be calmed down.
And so the latest joint ramble came to an end. Lafayette
Happy New Year to everyone.
Lafayette.
