"Some kind of celebration"

...at least that's what John said when he announced from the pulpit on Sunday that the ladies would be gathering at Ballantynes for afternoon tea come Tuesday.  What he forgot in the moment was that his lovely wife Joan was celebrating a birthday!  I couldn't stay long as I needed to fetch the boys from school, but it was super to join this special group of ladies for a short while.  I sat opposite Cynthia who graciously posed her hands on the teapot for a photo.

Joan looking contemplative...we will miss her steady company and wisdom as she and John are shortly to relocate to the North Island.