Sunday morning, we worked on the scripts for the April workshop, before packing the car with our bags and heading back the way I had come just a few days and many adventures earlier… except this time, I was not alone.  We were heading south, with things to do and people to see… starting just a few miles away with Sunday lunch in the Derbyshire village of Baslow.

We were early… knowing how busy the pubs can get around that time, we wanted to make sure we could get a table. Once seated, it seemed only natural to carry on with the work we had been doing…until I caught sight of Graeme.

It had been at the Blogger’s Bash in London last year that we had met Graeme Cumming, author of the thriller Raven’s Gathering. We had talked through a fair portion of the day and, finding that he lived not too far away from Stuart, meeting up with him and his partner at some point seemed feasible… and we finally managed to do so over Sunday lunch.

The only trouble with such meetings is that the time goes too quickly… and we talked a lot… about everything from Graeme’s next book to standing stones, via the workshop that has been occupying our minds and …well, you name it… A couple of hours flew by without warning and I would have happily stayed talking much longer… and I am hoping it won’t be the last time the four of us get together.

We finally hit the road, taking the long way home. The light stayed with us till we crossed the arbitrary border between ‘my’ north and the south, but it had been dark a long time before we reached Buckinghamshire.

Monday morning, I left Stuart working on the script for the workshop while I went to work then, once Ani was restored to us and had been plied with innumerable tennis balls, then we repaired to the pub for a read-through… which must have been quite surreal for anyone listening in.

Tuesday, we had planned an early start again. We were going out for lunch again… but first we wanted to visit a rather special place…