It's Nathan's birthday, and we're sitting with brother Edward and Sascha after a very successful little soirée. Nathan's family came down from Shropshire, laden with cakes an a bucket of strawberries and summer fruits. Nathan's goddaughter and her mother, and his ex partner also came, so it was a real family affair. 

I spent the afternoon, like a good wife, slaving over a hot stove. I produced an astonishing amount of food, including a plate of stuffed mushrooms, which were particularly tasty. I also made a jelly, and cheese and pineapple on sticks, because Nathan wanted an old school vibe!

My mother gave him a pineapple cutter for his birthday, which was one of the most exciting things I think I've ever seen. You sort of shove this plastic thing in the top and turn a handle and hey presto, you have a spiral of pineapple, which is ready to eat. A proper party trick. 

Nathan's sister made a birthday cake to look like an ABBA single, which has got to be the coolest cake I've ever seen. She opted for the English release of Waterloo, which came out in the year of his birth.

They also helped us to put a cabinet up in the bathroom, so I no longer have to store my shaving things on the floor.

I've stuffed my face and now feel a bit sick. 

June 30th, 1661 was a Sunday and Pepys went to St Olave's church before heading off to Westminster to meet the Duke of York, who was still on the war path regarding the delay of the fleet of ships, which we now learn was due to the wind blowing the wrong direction. 

Pepys went to Lincoln's Inn to look at the pretty ladies, who must have thought he was utterly mad as he was wondering about singing to himself, specifically practicing trills.

He returned home to find Elizabeth in a blue, which put him into a bad mood. He decided he was spending too much money on clothes and luxuries and vowed to tighten the purse strings. Other than that, he decided he was in good health, but for an almost pathological fear of getting cold, which meant that, despite the incredibly hot weather, he was wearing all manner of layers of clothes, particularly around his waist!