Birmingham meet up....

I met up with my "newly discovered" half brother and his wife there recently, still promising myself I will look at the paintings one of these days!

I need to go before 6th September as I want to go to an exhibition which ends then. If anyone wants to join me in the tearoom for coffee that would be good.

Given that, when I returned to the gallery I forgot to do the exhibition, please tell me that it's rubbish, Elrel [by the way, there's a lot of stuff about Warhol on BBC4 at the moment.He actually lived with his mum#notveryrock'n'rollthatisit and got someone to travel to The Factory each morning disguised as him so that it would look as if he got up in the morning#imighthaveimaginedthatbitthough]

Tegan - going to the gallery tomorrow (I'll tell you it's rubbish if you like!) and also going to bag a few more owls! Hope you had a good trip north!

Went today to William Morris/Warhol exhibition which ends on Sunday. Spent much longer than I expected there. Interesting parallels drawn between them both. Also found a room of little owlets less than 1m tall, beautifully decorated , mainly by schools.

Are we getting a date fixed for October soon please?

15th or 22nd October would be good for me.

I would love to meet up again, the dates mentioned, 15th or 22nd October are fine with me, I am happy to try and fit in with whatever suits everyone else.

Thats good news Cranberry - can we hear from the other Gransnetters please before my diary is highjacked by someone else (DH)?

15th would be good for me, 22nd also looks possible.

The 15th or 22nd would be good for me too. So looking forward to my first GN meet up.

Just back from Northumberland. 22nd would be best for me as I'm probably going to be away on 15th, but stick with 15th if it's best for everyone as there is a teeny tiny question mark over the 22nd pour moi.

Looks like either 15th or 22nd are ok for most of us. Tegan - we could go for 22nd for you but when might you know whether the teeny tiny question mark develops into something to stop you coming? Hope it doesn't as it would be good to have you with us!

Yes Tegan! it would be so good to have you with us, fingers crossed here!

As time is going on and the diary fills up 15th is now not the best time for me as I have an evening appointment so can we now firm up on 22nd October?

That would be fine by me. Would the tea rooms be ok for people again?

Fine for me on both counts!

Does it have to be the tea rooms? I really don't like that place I can never find anything to eat. Not sure they would have anything for kittylester either she needs to have gluten free and I think their menu would be very limited.

Perhaps one of the 'local ladies' could suggest somewhere; I don't know Birmingham very well these days.

I'll see what I can find. Tearoom is somewhere big enough for us to stay for hours without buying much but I take the point about gluten-free.

Who knew? To my surprise the gluten free places are almost all chains, from Nando's and Wetherspoon's to Wagamama and Bella Italia. Interesting but not helpful.

I know kitty likes Carluccios as it provides well for a gluten free diet as does Jamie's Italian and both are in the main shopping precinct not too far from the station. they don't mind how log you sit there either.

I thought Carluccio's was at Brindleyplace, not the Bull Ring? The one I know certainly is there, near the Ikon Gallery.

Just a thought - how about meeting for coffee at BMAG tearoom then at lunch time those wanting a meal could move on to the Carluccio's which is a 5/10 minute walk away in Brindley Place. I like Carluccio's but am unsure whether it's a place to sit around for a chat.

Or maybe meet at the Ikon for coffee as it is so near Carluccio's. It's not very big and never having been there in the morning I don't know how popular/crowded it is!