After months of keeping it a secret, it was a huge relief last night when Paul and Andy finally told Mike that his surprise birthday present is a trip to see the opera at Glyndebourne tomorrow. When they told him he was in Brighton for a surprise, you could see the fear in his face as he imagined all the surprise things he’d hate. Thankfully when told fear turned to joy and disbelief – he thought that you can only get tickets to Glyndebourne if you’re minted or have a title.

My big relief was that Mike’s new evening suit (that had taken much planning and conspiracy to acquire and have transported to Brighton) fitted him and looks lovely too. The finishing touch was the bicycle cufflinks I tracked down for him, he likes these very much. So all that’s left to do now is go and collect my suit from M&S and then we’re all set for the opera.