Unexpected serenade

Today we held a reunion of former members of my research group at our home. There are quite a lot of them these days: the earliest joined in 1965, and the final ones in about 2003! Each year, we try to find a day when as many as possible can come along, although we missed out in 2013. We always have a wonderful time meeting up with old friends, and recounting all the stories of laboratory mishaps, wild social occasions, and the like, that we experienced together as a team.

We usually have a barbecue (to accompany the wine!), and by tradition it is tended by a South American colleague in whose blood runs the culture of outdoor cooking. This photograph from 2012 (Saturday 22 September) shows him at work.

This year, we had a great surprise. The daughter of our next-door neighbours appeared unannounced with her violin, which she has started to learn to play. The music stand is her father, the barbecue is ready to go, ang her brother is lurking, waiting for food, and we were all treated to a pre-prandial serenade!

As a record, and to give a flavour of our festivities, here may be seen collections of photographs taken by some of the participants.

Happy Days!