I have half a dozen or so ‘best friends’ who have been my buddies since the beginning of the 1980s. They’ve all featured on my pages many times in the nearly two years since I started writing my stuff down in my photo diary.

Colin is one of the best. He’s been my ally, confidante, sounding board and all round wonderful friend for so long now we don’t even need to speak to one-another when we are together. Often we’ll just sit on deck chairs in the garden or lounge around in the house, completely at ease with one another.

Since my other ‘best friend’ Claz moved to Melton Mowbray and became ‘house-bound’ because she’s not allowed to leave the dogs in her care alone, Colin has become my shopping buddy. Mind you, it’s a role he’s filled over the years anyway. When I lived in Oxford, Colin used to spend the weekend with me regularly and he and I would go into town and shop together. Nothing is out of bounds with Colin – I’m surprised and more than a bit disappointed because he has almost always been single since I’ve known him and I really think he’d make a wonderful husband for someone – he is even happy in the M&S lingerie section and will happily follow me around fondling undies while I buy. I think he thinks it’s one of his best treats!!! (Oh how I hope he doesn’t hate me forever for that.)

Amazingly, I was organised enough to have his Christmas pressie all ready for him when he spent the weekend before Christmas with us. He can’t drive because he has very poor eyesight and so he comes to see us by train which means that the pressie he got (a dozen bottles of Cornish ale) was too heavy to cart home in one go. He took six bottles and left the rest for his next visit.

As he left, he joked that if we got desperate we had his permission to drink them and replace them before he is back with us. This is the result of a long-standing embarrassing moment for me – years ago, he came to spend the weekend and brought a couple of bottles of wine with him. Unbeknown to me one of the bottles was a very rare bottle that had been a pressie from his brother and could only be got from his brother’s wine club. We didn’t drink it and I said I’d keep it for next time he came. A few weeks later, I came home from work and went to the wine rack where the only wine was the bottle from Colin. I drank it thinking I’d keep the bottle and replace it. Of course I couldn’t replace it so I had to confess my sins and my indiscretion has been a standing joke between us ever since.

So, at the weekend, we wanted to make sure Ray and Lara got the best of the best to eat and drink and we’d run out of Cornish ale of our own so we raided Colin’s ale. I asked DM to keep a note of the ones we’d drunk so we could replace them and I’m sure on this occasion that it will be perfectly possible to do so. So Colin – you are right, we can’t resist your beer. You will forgive us though, won’t you?

Last year I was getting my knickers in a twist!