BY now, we had communal living down to a fine art.
Of the original gang, Geoff, Carl and I were still together, along with Mike and Maggie and we still had Shu–Shu, the sausage-eating cat. Linda’s place had been taken by the itinerant ‘Doc’, who came from the west of England, but didn’t quite know where he was going.
We had also acquired a dog called Linus, who dragged a blanket behind him wherever he went. He was a mixed–up German shepherd with two right ears, one of which was on the left side of his head and permanently cocked in the wrong direction.
It was to this menage that I brought David and Margaret and I think they were quite impressed. When the weather was fine, which was most of the time, the swimming pool, the patio and the adjoining bar were the focal points of our social life.
We didn’t usually indulge in much riotous living, but we made up for it that weekend.
Friday, always our ‘open house’ night, was even madder than usual.
The people who popped in for after-office drinks overlapped with the people who came for sundowners, who then overlapped with the people who came for after-dinner drinks. By nine o’clock the house members had been entertaining for four-and-a-half hours on empty stomachs. We retired to the kitchen in relays, to dispose of a pan of over-cooked stew.
We had to be up and about pretty early next morning to organise the next party. This was to be a real shindig, with 70 guests and a spit-roasted pig.
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