The day had arrived when Narrelle and I were to meet Melandrupert so setting the tusty Tom Tom sat nav for the address north of Manchester we set off.

On the way I pondered what to expect, would we hit it off or would we find we had nothing in common, what would she look like, was she tall, short. It was a bit like going on a blind date.

 I need not have been concerned as when we arrived we were greeted at the door by a short attractive and very pleasant lady who explained Mel had gone out and she ,the lady was to entertain us.

Just kidding it was Mel and we clicked straight away.

Her home is very pleasant and gives you that "welcome" feel that is missing in a lot of places. Spotlessly clean but not sterile, a very "homey home"

We met Mels` husband whom I immediately called Rupert thinking Mel and Rupert was referring to him,only to be told the Rupert was a cat that had gone the "Cat Heaven" and his name was Stu.

Needless to say I referred to him as Rupert a few times during our stay.

We had a good old "chin wag" and found we had a lot in common about many things. Narrelle and both Mel and Stu hit if off so all in all it was a great visit.

Mel, and I assume, ably assisted by Stu, had prepared a lunch of home made soup followed by marinated chicken wings, yum!

Mel sai they were chicken wings but I couldn`t help noticincg some wild ducks that were missing their wings in a paddock out the back. Mel told us she feeds the ducks and I quickly guessed why." I will feed you today and you will feed me tomorrow."

Mel and Stu took us out to a local icon "The singing wind tree" This is a sculpture of 2" galvanised pipes arranged in a spiral shape. It is located on a rise in a valley and as the wind blows up the valley is causes sound from the pipes like you get by blowing across the top of a empty bottle.

But believe me no bottle ever sounded like this. The pipes are "tuned" to different notes and the result is the most amazing representation of voices singing. Incredible stuff.

On our return to their home Mel and Stu gave us afternoon tea and the chatter continued. Just could not shut us up.

It was with reluctance that Narrelle and I kissed them both goodbye, not sure why Stu put his tongue in my mouth, and headed for London after one of the most enjoyable afternoons this old bloke has had

We arrived back at around 9pm and Mel, lovely lady that she is telephoned  after we had only been home a few minutes to check we arrived safely. As I said lovely lady, both Narrelle and I were touched by her thoughtfulness.

We have a compliment in Australia that outweighs any other, that is to welcome someone to your fire. This stems from the good old days when if you were sitting around a camp fire and a stranger arrived and you welcomed them to your fire you thought they were ok to Mel and Stu I say:::

Pull up a log, there is tea in the billy and pannikins over there, help yourselves and WELCOME TO MY FIRE>