Thursday was a back-to-school day.  Trevithick Library had organised a mini awayday for all the staff to get us updated on what's happening in the Library service and to review the year.  We had an excellent morning and it was great to see people after being off for the summer.  Ruth, the library manager, decided to improve on perfection by bringing in a batch of home baked red velvet cupcakes and some almond frangipane tartlets for us to enjoy with our coffee - what a great idea! 

We talked about ways we could improve customer service in the library, the ongoing Lean programme for the University and the library's new Twitter feed.  The morning flew by and we finished with an inspiring tour of the SCOLAR section - Special Collections and Archives. This includes the rare books previously owned by the City Council that were controversially sold off a couple of years ago and a variety of specialist collections, including Welsh literature and specialist medical textbooks.  Much of this is now being digitised to share with the world via websites - it was fascinating to get a glimpse into this aspect of the library service. Click here   to link to the website for more info. 

On Friday I met up with my friend Helen for lunch down the Bay.  Unfortunately it turned out to be a bad day for her - their much loved Shetland pony, Doughnut, a real character, had to be put down by the vet after breaking her leg, so Helen was in need of getting away from the farm and a change of scene.  We ended up lunching at Cafe Rouge, and had a leisurely and very relaxing meal, catching up with a bucket of news.  Food was great, then we sauntered over to Starbucks for a coffee and more chat.  I popped into the Millennium Centre to buy some tickets - I, Andrew's sister Claire and Rita are going together to see Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker in November, which will be Rita's birthday present. 

Today had another birthday themed activity.  Last year, for Andrew's 40th, his parents and sister clubbed together to get him an Adopt a Vine certificate at Three Choirs Vineyard, Herefordshire.  As part of the package, Andrew could go and visit, and had a voucher to spend in the vineyard shop, as well as being entitled to two free bottles of wine. The weather today was lovely, warm and sunny, so after walking the dogs and having brunch we headed up the M50 for a beautiful drive up to the vineyard.  We were warmly welcomed and enjoyed looking round - there is lots to see and the vineyard has a restaurant, shop, cafe area, walks, ponds, wildlife zones and accommodation.  You can see their website here.   Dotted around the vines were smart gazebos, and when you approached each one, inside there was a solar powered audio pod, with touch controls, which gave you a brief audio guide to some aspect of the vineyard, such as the wildlife, the grape varieties, the calendar of activities through the year and so on. This was a great idea.  

We finished up by browsing in the shop and Andrew choosing a wonderful variety of wine to take home.  Some is going to be kept back for Christmas, but a couple of bottles are in the fridge and we are looking forward to one tonight as we're having squid and then fish.  We took lots of pictures, including of Andrew with "his" vine.  Then it was back to the car, and a short journey home.