Tuesday 17th August

I finish my less-than-gruelling two-day week at work and head straight for Waterloo. K and I are off to Gillingham, her home town, for a few days – firstly to attend her dad's regular Gillingham and Shaftesbury agricultural show which takes place tomorrow, then to scout out some potential wedding venues we've researched and finally as a base from which to visit our friends Matt and Ellie in Cornwall from Friday to Sunday. I get the tube towards the station, battling my way through the evening rush hour – during which I discover that the song Satan by Orbital is the perfect soundtrack for negotiating a terrain packed with dawdling tourists and inconsiderate commuters. I arrive a little early, giving me some time for a cigarette and to potter around Smiths and whatnot, while listening to one of the Collings and Herrin Edinburgh podcasts.

I get on the already-busy train and manage to bag a seat at a table for myself and K, who will be getting on at Clapham Junction, seeing as it's closer to where she works. I get out the netbook – this being the first time I've ever taken it out of the house – and set about catching up with some blog writing. The novelty of using a computer on the train still fascinates me, as it seems to fascinate the little girl sitting opposite me as I'm typing. K joins the train and quickly finds me, diverting the little girl's attention from my computer to her knitting as the journey progresses.

We arrive in Gillingham shortly after 9.30, to find the house packed to the rafters with K's entire family, including her very sweet four-month old niece. I take a seat in the comfortable living room and am handed a can of Lager by K's older brother (the capital letter there is to denote the brand; Lager, it seems, is Co-Op's chosen name for it's 2.6% own brand beer – clever). We sit and chat for a while before the youngest kids are put to bed, then start watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on ITV. This is a film which, as a bit of a movie fan, I am ashamed to say I have never seen – and I enjoy the first hour or so very much, but as is often the case with watching movies on commercial telly the adverts mean it drags on for absolutely ages – and K and I eventually give up and head to bed before the end.