A grand day out...

(with apologies to Aardman Animations and Olga who have already used this title...)

So yesterday was the special outing and what fun it was! Fifteen writers (including two very brave men), who have previously taken the Open University A215 Creative Writing course, hit London's West End and a certain restaurant on The Strand will probably take a long while to recover...

So, the plan was to meet on the steps of the National Gallery at 11.30am. I had the great idea of trying to get down there by 10am when the gallery opens, in order to spend some time looking at the Impressionist paintings, which I love. Needless to say at 10am I was only just leaving the house. I actually got to Trafalgar Square at 11am and getting my priorities right I visited the loo and the gallery shop before looking at a temporary exhibition of Renaissance German stained glass (exhibited in many cases alonside the artwork it was based on.) Before you start yawning, I should just remind you that I have a degree in German and have studied the art and literature of the period, so it was interesting for me!

Anyway, we then all started to congregate on the steps. As most people had never met outside of cyberspace it was a constant round of hugs and introductions. Amazingly some people had travelled from as far as Scotland, Northern Ireland, Liverpool, Dorset and Wiltshire to be there as well as many of the usual suspects from the South East.

Once we had all arrived there was a spare half hour before the restaurant was ready for us, so we retreated to the bar of a nearby hotel. We then spent the rest of the afternoon over a very long lunch in a theatrical restaurant, just chatting nonstop.

Food, wine, chocolate and great company, what more could you ask?

On the way home I diverted very slightly via Paddington station to see one of the visitors onto her train and I couldn't help going into the little Paperchase shop and buying myself a beautiful new notebook for writing. I had obviously been inspired after being in the company of so many talented writers, many of whom, like me have work on WikidWords!

It was a great day out and I hope we can all do it again. Soon.

Three notable things:

1. I had a phone tutorial at 9.30am today so was frantically trying to get up to date after son 2 went off to school.

2. I have written a life writing piece on autism on the Your Messages blog today. Read it here and check out any previous days you might have missed!.

3. This morning son 1 and I went to Waitrose because he has developed a craving for fish fingers and we had run out...