Probably the most gullible person in the world

That's me! I'm renowned for it. I call it trusting but everyone else seems to think I am an excellent target for a good wind up. The main perpetrator of abusing this credulous side of my nature is my beloved husband. It is like a sport for him trying to get me to believe his stories. You will often hear him sitting with a pint of ale or a glass of wine and a group of our friends telling them about, "the funny time when Louisa believed that..." or "we managed to fool Louisa into thinking that..." after such stories my humiliation is always the cause of much hilarity.

One of the best, (until the other night, but we'll come on to that) was many years ago when we lived in London. We were taking one of our frequent walks in Richmond Park when Angus turned and said, in a very serious tone of voice, "Did you know that there are 17 different types of deer in Richmond Park?". Now, you do have to understand that Angus is frighteningly good at having little bits of interesting trivia up his sleeve which he relishes peppering our conversations with frequently. I have no idea where he gets it all from and no, it's not all made up. His father was a brilliant historian so the story that followed about Henry VIII insisting on 17 breeds of deer (I don't even know if there ARE 17 breeds of deer) in order to vary his hunting bla, bla, bla, seemed utterly plausible.

The story was told, and then forgotten. It wasn't until about seven years later when Angus was in Richmond Park with a friend of ours. The friend pointed out a herd of deer grazing in the distance and confidently said, "Did you know there are 17 different types of deer in Richmond Park?". It turns out that I had told someone, who told someone else who told our friend and Angus's big fat lie got right back to him! Who would have thought it! So if you have ever hear about the 17 deer breeds in Richmond Park then I'm sorry to tell you, it was a complete load of rubbish spouted by my dear husband.

The other night we were walking home whilst devouring another Ben & Jerry's ice cream (Peanut Brittle this time - divine!) and we were comparing Boston and New York, which one we'd rather live in and so on. Angus, again completely seriously said, "Do you know why it is that so many of the Italians in New York are called Tony?". I am absolutely sure that many of you reading this are already thinking that you can't believe I fell for this, but he is so convincing! The story had so much detail, all about Ellis Island, the ships arriving from Italy and, here's the bit, "when the Italians arrived they had TONY (To New York) stamped on their foreheads and so became Tony." Again, I could see how it could have happened!

I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Angus could have dined out on my believing this one to be true for years. However, thankfully he had consumed just a little too much wine earlier in the evening to be able to keep his usual composure and a during a brief lack of concentration, a small smirk slipped out and I was on to him. It was a close call but I pulled back my integrity at the very last moment.

Please tell me that there are other gullible numpties amongst my readers and that I am not alone.