Well, sorry to be so late checking in , but our computer has been on the blink for the past 5 days. I never thought I'd miss it , but it has invidiously become part of my life. ( how sad methinks ) There will surely be no dunces' corner this week ..... is EV dumbing down a bit ???? that's apart from the superfluous SS. A garden party sounds a great idea. DocHH, you must have been to a few i.e. a party in a garden where the wine flows. I think I might be welcome as when I came home from work today, there, behind the front door, was a bottle of champagne, courtesy of The Independent, Inquisitor. I'll bring it along ( without its packaging, Devadolly ) So I've hit a winning streak, hooray, but more than willing to share with fellow EV N&C Wine clubbers. DocHH, I spoke to a very junior person on our local paper about talking newspapers and she'd never heard about it. What sort of circulation does your local paper have?