I’m practicing my new-found portrait skills tonight with a photo of Mike_R. Mike is (as you may know) a fellow PotDer since David persuaded him to give it a go a few months back.

I’ve known Mike as long as I’ve known David – both men were introduced to me (and I think to each other) by Claire, my buddy in Melton Mowbray. Although my acquaintance with Mike has been barely more than ‘hello, how are you?’ over the years, since I’ve been with David I’ve come to know him quite well.

He’s David’s closest friend and they share a long history, starting when David was a drag racer and Mike volunteered to be his pit crew – I think that’s how the story goes. David was runner-up in his class at Santa Pod many years ago and Mike was his Right Hand man.

They don’t just share a love of cars but of photography and music too – Mike and the Mingster famously played at C&Gs 20th Wedding Anniversary, a day to remember for me only because it was the day I finally got out of my marriage. After spending a tortuous morning putting up curtain rails and doing other DIY jobs in my ex-husband’s new home, I went to the party with Sharon.

I was about as low as it was humanly possible to be, having spent the weekend moving my ex into his new home and all the associated misery was oozing out of every pore.

I picked myself up and took myself off to the party where I sat in a corner and drank myself to oblivion. It wasn’t clever or pretty but it was cathartic. I needed to start afresh.

Mike and David were the ‘cabaret’ that day and David remarked to me many months later that he’d thought I looked down. That was an understatement. I think I looked awful and I think he knows that too. He didn’t realise what had been going on that weekend in my life.

It was at a party three months later that our flame was rekindled after years of throwing buckets of cold water all over it.

Mike is a really kind soul. I don’t think it’d be possible to meet a nicer chap. He’s the one who brought me all of the Institute of Professional Photographers stuff over when I was fired up with enthusiasm after my publication in AP.

When he’s here with David they often disappear into David’s office and play with software or hardware for hours.

Today it’s me that’s disappeared while they are downstairs….I must go and serve supper or it’ll be so late we won’t want to eat.