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We’ve spent the last two days in Suffolk for an Ipswich-based weekend. It’s something which hasn’t happened for a while, maybe for six weeks or more. But, the flat needed a visit, and as family members from afar were stopping by at mums, they were all the excuses we needed.

We buzzed up to Lowestoft at Saturday lunchtime, where we found the A12 steadily moving, and pleasantly free of traffic, which doesn’t happen often. Our journey was cut by at least 15 minutes, and we arrived stress-free and relaxed. We had broken it, though, as we’d stopped at the picturesque coastal village of Waldringfield, on the banks of the River Deben to search out some geocache treasure.

(A travel bug we’d planted at Lizard Point in Cornwall and which was due to finish its journey eastwards at Lowestoft was recorded online as being here, and we thought it right to move it to its ending place as we’d put it on its route there this time last year. But, more treasure seekers had beaten us to it, and had moved it on, but not logged their move online, so we left empty-handed.)

Rain of a spit-spot nature stopped us from walking on Lowestoft’s golden sands, but that was of little consequence; upon arrival at mum’s the kitchen was a flurry of activity, with pizzas, salads, and quiches all bustling for attention on the dining table, There were to be eight of us for a late lunch, and by the quantity of food that had been prepared, there was little chance of any of us going hungry.

Sandie, Doug, Kevin and Janice from Lincolnshire and London duly arrived en route from Thetford, and we all tucked in to the feast spread in front of us, quickly speeding onto dessert, followed by copious amounts of tea, and cards. To a newcomer, Blob, can be hard to grasp, but by the end of it, even Kevin had managed to get a handle on how to play, and soon left me trailing, finishing with what must be my lowest-ever score.

If Blob is difficult, Donkey is the polar opposite. Starting with one card and shifting one around to the player on the left to collect four cards of the same value, it’s fast and frenetic, unless you get one slow player building up cards at one end of the table, which in turn holds up everyone else. Once a collection of four with the same value in different suits has been reached, the winning player places their cards face down on the table, and waits for the other players to follow suit. The last player to do so loses a life, and after six, becomes the ‘Donkey’.

For such a quiet end to a hand, it’s usually quite loud, but today was plain raucous, as spoons were added to the table (one less than the number of players), to make it easier to spot the one player who had collected their same four cards. There was clattering, shouting, grabbing, sliding on the floor, and lots of laughter. In the end, a standoff between Bart and Janice made Bart the winner, but he took no spoils.

A Saturday of family fun then, and one which asks the question, why don’t cousins in all families get seen or pay a visit more often?