Birthday Party!

Memories of that wonderfully fantastical brilliant day will remain with us forever! A very, very special day for us both surrounded by so many dear, dear friends and family and what a gift from Gill and Mike - lending their home and garden for the celebration, not to mention all the time and effort that went into the planning and preparations - every detail considered and simply nothing overlooked. Then Carol's ribbon and balloon decorations making it all complete.

We landed up at Gill and Mike's the previous Tuesday to find their garden looking absolutely beautiful and everything in hand - all we had to do was enjoy the anticipation of the day to come and then of course the day itself! What a wonderfully relaxed way in which to enjoy one's own party which is usually fraught with anxious planning details, timetables, shopping etc. etc. !! All we had to do was relax and enjoy. All my attempts to express how much we appreciated all that was done for us seemed feebly inadequate - to convey how deeply touched we were by this amazing gift given to us by these dear friends of ours

We did manage to lend a hand erecting the marquee on the Thursday evening - with dozens of metal poles, yard upon yard of covering and no instructions we certainly met our challenge! We thought we were doing quite well until we noticed that one side of the framework was longer than the opposite side - perhaps we had gone wrong somewhere? Especially when we tried to connect the roof pieces, poles were popping back out all over the place - it's nothing short of a miracle that none of us were walking around on the Saturday with black eyes - though I believe Gill had a pretty hefty blow to her foot when one of the poles decided to drop out completely! The thought of eyes peering out from behind net curtains in the neighbouring house put me in mind of Candid Camera (for those of my generation old enough to remember that programme!) as we began to wonder if this was ever meant to pull together to make a marquee!! We did finally manage to get hold of a copy of the instructions and to our satisfied amazement discovered we hadn't really done so badly after all - just a few changes and suddenly we had a solid framework over which to put the covering - and in no time were admiring our efforts of the last 3 hours as we stood looking at a very smart marquee!

We all seem to have very different ideas as to which one goes where............. meanwhile nothing's going anywhere!!

















"Shouldn't it be a little taller than this??"
















After all the laughter and effort, it looked lovely for the party and served us well for our 3 families' Father's Day celebration on Sunday!
















Folks drifted in from around 2 o'c onward and, as far as British summers go, we were lucky to have a warm day with the sun popping in and out which meant we could all be outside which always creates that lovely sense of freedom and much enhances the party atmosphere! Folks mingled and chatted, sipped vino and Pimms and enjoyed Grace's wonderful buffet while the music played gently in the background.

Lovely to see the young folks still around and enjoying themselves late into the evening - reluctant to leave before 'the party's over'! It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends we've not had the chance to see in a while.


During the afternoon, we were taken by surprise whilst sitting at the top end of the garden to hear the distant singing of "Happy Birthday........." we turned to see Jess and Katie holding a cake for each of us, walking towards us and a sea of faces - all our dear friends and family singing "Happy Birthday". I was quite overwhelmed (though those of you who know me well will not be the least surprised to know that!) Another thoughtful touch on Gill's part I believe! I made a very lame attempt at a speech too overcome with emotion - thankfully Michael was there with his strength and sense of humour to fill the gap!! I just wanted to say how fantastic it was to have everyone there to share our special day and to give Gill and Mike, and Carol, a very special thank you - best laid plans eh?!

Later in the evening the tempo and volume were pushed up a few notches and the dancing got underway!
















It's always sad when such occasions come to an end, but end they must. But we made the most of every moment of that day and will long cherish the memories - thank you to everyone who helped make that such a memorable day.

P.S. We flew back to Spain on the Wednesday with my cousin Julian and his wife, Frances, who were going to spend a week with us. That at least made leaving a little easier! Though we always look forward to coming back, it never gets easier saying goodbye to the boys!!