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Colleagues past and present felt the need for beer, hamburgers and gossip. No sooner said, than done!

Once again we gathered at one of our favourite watering holes in Hamster Jam

Babette and Diana have a lot of catching up to do

Oooh goody .... a large platter for starters ... shame it was still red hot though ...

Annelies pulls a funny face. Some think it is because the dish was red hot (which it was) ...

..others subscribe to the view that she was just embarrassed about having admitted that she had a ticket to the Huishoudbeurs (Dutch version of the Ideal Home Show)

There is a rumour that she is just doing it for the freebies there, that companies dish out to rabid housewives .... but I think that the guest artists appearing there have something to do with it:

No need to worry Annelies, those who know and love you are fully aware that you are NOT a Space Cadet

... and you know what, Gentle Reader, it tasted every bit as good as it looks ... (how often can we say that in life?)

Eline finds an inventive approach to this problem

Good grief ... they are still clacking away (I notice that Babette has not allowed gossip to get in the way of drinking .....that beer has had some punishment).

David and Annelies do some catching up

Fashionably late, Rhian takes the vacant spot at the head of the table

The waitress takes our orders .... we struggled to make up our minds, but in the end we managed to order some mouth-wateringly good burgers.

Interesting look David ....

Nigel orders in some more beer, while Paul tries to get serious and fails utterly.

Ian asked whether my glass was half full or half empty .... thanks for that Ian .... I'll give it some thought while I am pouring some more of that amber nectar down my neck ....

Eline and David at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum.

Rhian tells it like it is .... she doesn't pull her punches (thank goodness).

We lean back and take a moment

We all seem to be coping quite well, aside from Annelies - who appears to be going through some sort of personal crisis

...meanwhile, down at our end of the table, alcohol and smiles are the order of the day

...it turns out to be infectious, before you know it Maud and Paul are giving it large

Oops ... this looks serious

Rhian is having a "Eeek! Did I REALLY order the octopus hamburger" moment

Babette and Diane briefly wonder whether they should have gone down the health food route, then shout "Naaaaaaaa" and dive for the mayonnaise and chips!

David was hungry ... his hands are a blur of motion .... I just hope that his mouth can keep up, otherwise it could get kind of messy!

There's ALWAYS one isn't there?

Old friends never run out of things to say (if I had been sitting next to the lovely Annelies then endless teasing about the huishoudbeurs would have been involved).

Maud in meditative mood

David holds forth .... we all listened attentively (or pretended to - out of politeness)

The waitress turns up in the nick of time ... Nigel was just about to dry up and blow away

Babette turns umpire as Annelies and Diana play a little gossip tennis

A hush descends at the other end of the table (hamburger fatigue?)

Smiles all round .... dirty joke?

Aha, I see that the social lubricant is working its voodoo

Yes folks, they really were as cheerful as they look

Wow - this looks serious

Toby dozes off in mid-sentence ... cool, situation normal

Nearly time to head for home (or, in Paul's case, Bonaire)

(lucky bugger)

We're clearly on a roll

Somewhere in this tight little gossip knot is Toby, trying to escape. So anyway, that was our latest hamburger reunion - let's do it again soon!