The Party's Over (Phew)

Well, it's over and done with now. Perhaps I can get my life back, I seem to have been working towards it for weeks. In true Linda style I finished the grouting the night before I started preparing the food and and I was still preparing the food when the first visitors arrived at 2.30pm. The last ones left at 1.15am.

It was one of those rare occasions when everything was perfect. People made new friends and mingled and strolled around the garden and loved the food, the weather was good, I couldn't really have asked for more, except maybe a small team of caterers!

High spots of the day.

My sister in law was able to visit for the first time since her husband had a stroke three years ago and he made it too. They live eighty miles away.

My fairly new step brother and sister came and had a lovely time, it was so nice to share a family event with them.

My stepson was drunk. Always a very entertaining person after a couple of drinks.

My son wasn't. So good to see he seems to have grown out of the college binge drinking stage he and most of his friends went through.  

Having a party when I had lots of time to talk to people.

Vitually no left over food but lots of left over wine.

It was good to have a special day that lived up to and exceeded it's expectations. Not all occasions do.

One memorable event was two years ago. As a thank you for the work Mike did in his programme for the farmers of our two counties (We were then Hereford & Worcester) we were invited to a large country house to meet the Queen. Now I'm neither here or there when it comes to the Monarchy but I'm always one for a bit of a do. So off we went in our finery. About 2000 people had been invited to picnic in the grounds, where HRH was to do a walkabout and there was entertainment.

We, (swanky this) were part of the select few invited to take Pimms with the Queen and Philip in the reception hall of the house. We had to get in way before 'She who must be obeyed' arrived. Bizzarely they started serving the Pimms immediately on arrival and as she was running late meant we were mostly well on the way to being rather merry by the time she arrived. Then we all carried on drinking while she caught up.

By the time Lord & Lady Knob, or whoever they were, started leading the royal couple round to introduce us we were not really in a fit state to meet anyone. I was now in a huge panic as an Honourable friend, who is in the know about royalty had just whispered  that I really must curtsey, as 'We are not amused if you dont'.

Buggar!! How do you do that, in my Pimms befuddled state I hadn't a clue but I was fairly sure it would involve me falling over and what if, horror of horrors I landed on HRH, who was getting quite close and I'd just realised is nearly a foot shorter than me.

Philip got to us first and I was just having a very pleasant little chat with him, he's a twinkly eyed old devil, when, depending on your point of view a very good, or a very bad thing happened. The woman on our right keeled over in a dead faint.

Apparently it doesn't do to make a fuss if HRH is six feet away, so the poor woman was left on the floor, whilst HRH was lead away. Then they attended to the drunk on the floor. I was in a mixture of relief that :-

a. It wasn't me on the floor ...and

 b. I hadn't had to do the dreaded curtsey

but also a bit disapointed I hadn't got to shake the great hand. I had so wanted to remind her about the time she saw me in my red wellies in Halesowen in 1955, when I was two years old. lol.

Best plan in life is never to expect too much, that way you don't get let down and if it does go right then it's a bonus.