The ramblings of Keane Ingram

It was my birthday last Friday. By now, my age is just a number that is more than enough for me to drive and buy alcohol (although not together), and so is not really important - I even have to stop and think what my actual age is sometimes when asked. I think 33 still counts as early 30s so am not too panicked about getting old just yet - let's face it, I'm married with three kids, I go on caravan holidays, I own an expensive bike with several drawers full of lycra, music these days is rubbish - I'm already old!

Given my obsession with cycling, it was no surprise that the majority of my presents were cycling-related, although this is a good thing! I did however get a Jedi dressing gown from Anna's parents, and Anna got me an ocarina which is the one thing I asked for, with the intention of learning the songs from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

No birthday would be complete without a cake, and here is the brilliant bicycle cake that Anna, Nicky and Kitty made me :-)


The day after my birthday Anna took me out for lunch at a lovely pub where I had possibly the best steak ever - it was cooked to perfection and incredibly juicy. It did cost £21 but I wasn't paying and I did get the OK to order it! The two hours of child-free time was also much appreciated.

The Saturday before this, several of us met up in Southend to have a few drinks in memory of Barry. We'd all been really close to him and had many memorable stories to tell. We don't often meet up these days, what with family commitments etc., and it was a shame we had to meet in these circumstances, but it was nice to relive old times and get quite, quite drunk. I may have regretted the number of drinks slightly the next day, but I'm sure Barry would have approved!