One for sorrow. Of the three of us, I'm first there, never a good sign, and I'm going to have to explain the rules -- well, more guidelines -- to newest luncheoner Johnny. Seating, hot drinks, caffs. That Boathouse place, opposite Coffeelink, is very much a restaurant. Not there, said Johnny having turned up, next door, pointing to the Boathouse Deli, which is shut and devoid of life. Oh dear.

Cue manual rerouting and bike wheeling away from the Deben and into town, those racks outside Caffe Nero handy as ever. Right past hexpensive Honey & Harvey to the Turban Centre and into Two Magpies, here since early 2022 when it moved into the vacated Browsers bookshop, now about 50m away. More exposition required: 2M, who started life in Southwold, took over the Darsham Hamper as a bakery school from the Co-op -- see birthday mention here -- and have stealthily set up shops in N*rwich, Blakeney, Wells, etc. Ain't no Holting them.

Any thoroughfare up, we're here and, dispensing with the lunch menus, decide to go with a hand-picked selection from the droolingly good counter display. Emmenthal pizza bread, Moroccan sausage roll, foccacia, and an empanada, gracias. We'll bring them over, smiles the nice young woman. Whereupon Andy arrives to find out we've already ordered. Ten minutes later and we're all quite peckish: have they forgotten us? Takes a reminder for the plates to start arriving, though it's worth the wait, esp. the cheesy sourdough. Wasn't easy to divide two savoury scalene triangles into three, let me tell you. Good San Pellegrino pomegranate.

Employed me having bought the first course, over to recently free-as-a-bird Johnny to surprise us with some sweet treats. Arriving far more rapidly are fulsome pieces of seed cake, bread pudding and bundt, which it's left to me to finish off ahead of my return cycle ride to Martlesham, aided by a wowsers macchiato. Wonder if they'll copy Honey & Harvey and build an Ipswich nest? Regardless, it's two for joy.

If it was a car -- Fiat 124 Spider.
If they were passing by -- Jenny Hanley.