There are many, many joys to living at Summer Fields. Quality of lfe is unsurpassable, colleagues are all friends, and everything is within a stone's throw of one's habitat.

What you may not know is that every Wednesday and Saturday evening, we take it in turns to host what we euphemistically call 'football/rugby/cricket drinks' at our respective homes, to which all members of the community are invited. Tonight it was our turn - and we had a wonderful party. It vwas tremendous to entertain people with whom we work and consider to be our friends, and everyone came, including Mr and Mrs BT.

So there we were, wine glasses in hand, nibbles a-plenty, and everyone getting on with everyone else. Minor squabbles were quickly forgotten, and all was well. Mr Bryan and I were engaged in a very nerdy conversation about the where the emphasis lies in the pronunciation of the infinitives of second and third conjugation Latin verbs, and the sporting fraternity (of which Mr Bryan is one - and I am less so) discussing sporty stuff.

The boys, of course, love seeing their preceptors getting on with one another, and were not slow to enquire as to whether one had had a good time, or whether anyone had 'overdone it'. They had not!

And so it went on , leading into silent reading and lights out. The boys were quiet, and all was well. I went into the Heronians, and turned out their lights. Ensuring that silence reigned, which it did, I paced across the room in the dark. (You're ahead of me!) I paced back to the door, and, of course, crashed into a Heronian locker, sending its contents around the immediate area.

Oh well, at least it gave the Heronians a laugh.