Fading peony

Last night we enjoyed our dinner out at Skinners Hall, but the evening was rather spoilt by the hot weather. Firstly the train journey into London was unbearable, it was 30C outside and I swear it was about 40C inside the train which is not air conditioned, there were only tiny windows open in some areas, and it was like a greenhouse in there. We arrived in London all sweaty and felt like we were melting, quite disgusting! Then the dinner was held in the great gallery of the hall which again was so hot it was very uncomfortable - medieval buildings don't have air conditioning (!) and being a medieval banqueting hall it has no windows, and it was packed to maximum capacity of about 150 people so it was sweltering in there. The men were allowed to take their dinner jackets off which while breaking tradition, became a necessity. The food was exceptional and the speeches were amusing, but it was a very late night.

After my NHS dermatology appointment that was meant to be two weeks ago was cancelled by the dermatologist, a new appointment was made for today. While I was already checked by another dermatologist in the private sector last week, I decided to go to this appointment so that I can stay in the loop of the NHS system. My private appointment was very thorough with the dermatologist checking every inch of my body for suspicious moles so I felt reassured after that appointment. Today, the dermatologist checked the site of where my mole was removed, asked me to lift up my dress to briefly look at my back, and the entire appointment did not last more than 2 minutes. I am very grateful I had that more thorough check last week! 

At lunchtime we went to collect the new car, it is very nice and most importantly I do like the colour! (It's a strange new colour called Alpine Grey which is very pale, but looks good with the black trim).

I have not had much luck with peonies that I have bought for the vase - they either don't open, or fade very quickly. In this bunch only one opened, the others remained closed and went off while tightly closed. This is the one that did open but it wilted quite quickly.

This weekend is going to be even hotter, Gavin and I want to play some golf but I think it may be too hot.