Saturday 17th January 2026

The wedding invitations scenario continued today, as Vinothini's family made a return visit to Daya's home at around 11:30 to invite Daya's family to the wedding that Daya's family invited them to yesterday! In a similar fashion to yesterday, Vinothini was not allowed, as the bride, to participate in this visit, but it didn't have to be an odd number of people this time, and it was a much smaller affair, with fewer visitors and just a cup of tea rather than a full lunch.

Vinothini's family is not supposed to give out their wedding invitations until they have formally invited the groom's family, so it's all systems go now, with both families set up to distribute wedding invitations to family and friends, preferably with a personal, face-to-face invitation wherever possible. If you think all this sounds quite exhausting, then you are correct! There is no 'save the date' and 'you'll get your formal wedding invitation in the post' here!

In the end, it was just Vino's parents who came - her father's name is Muthusami Muthulingam and her mother is called Nalusami Selvkumari. So, Vino's name is Muthulingam Vinothini, as she has her father's given name plus her own given name, which she will keep when she marries Daya. I was on my own in the lounge when they arrived, so I greeted them as best as I could before Daya's cousin/sister Chinu appeared, followed later by Daya.

It was only a short visit - probably just short of an hour - so the rest of the day was very relaxing. Ragu returns to Colombo tomorrow, and Daya will travel with him to give out wedding invitations to family there. I will take the opportunity to visit Donald and Ladushan at Dreamscape in Hatton, as they work on Sundays, then go back to Donald's home to visit his father, who was taken into hospital after I visited two weeks ago and only recently came home.

Today's photos are ones I took during the visit from Vinothini's parents. I particularly like the final photograph, which shows Daya's aunt (who looks after them) with her youngest daughter, Chinu, and her granddaughter, Deeptheeka. I have also added a few photos from a late afternoon walk I went on this afternoon when I was feeling a bit lonely and which cheered me up greatly.













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