Me: The good thing about half term is that you make new friends when you go to the beach.
Nell: I wouldn’t say exchanging pleasantries with a mature Chocolate Labrador is making friends exactly. I’m not expecting to be on her Christmas card list.
Me: People don’t really send cards anymore.
Nell: You know what I mean.
Me: You were chatting for ages.
Nell: I was telling her about your book, if you must know, and she was rather excited to be meeting a local celebrity.
Me: I wouldn’t call myself that and I didn’t actually meet her.
Nell: I’m talking about me. I’m the one everyone wants to meet.
Me: That’s true. People are always delighted to actually meet you. Harriet had great fun with that Golden Labrador.
Nell: Yes. Goldens can be playful.
Me: I like to see visitors enjoying our beach. It’s such a beautiful place and good to share it with others.
Nell: It’s not what you say when you get stuck in a traffic jam.
Me: That’s different. It used to be a nightmare in the summer when I lived in Torquay.
Nell: We haven’t been there for a long time.
Me: No. I’ve been thinking of doing one of my nostalgic visits again. Where I grew up, my old school, you know the kind of thing.
Nell: I do.
Me: My mother and her sister lived in this wonderful Victorian mansion. My grandmother was the housekeeper.
Nell: Yes, you told me.
Me: The elderly ladies she worked for had animal heads on the walls. They terrified me when we visited.
Nell: That’s absolutely outrageous. Heads on walls. Whatever next?
Me: It’s what people used to do.
Nell: They can jolly well stop. I don’t want to hear another word about it.
Me: No. Sorry
