Party!

My sister, E, has just had a birthday, and decided to hold a party, to celebrate. She lives about 2 hours drive from me, so it was an excellent excuse for an overnight visit. It meant, too, that I got to see both of my sisters, and my brother, plus my cousins and their 18 month old son, who live close to my sister.
It was a lot of fun.

E decided to start with afternoon tea, and then gradually segue into the cocktail party stage of the Party, in order to accommodate everyone's availability.

When I arrived, I was immediately co-opted to bake scones, while E finished decorating a fantastic triple layer chocolate cake.
It was a beautiful sunny day, so we were able to spill out into the garden. Scones and cream and Pimms and sunshine make for a good tea-party. (and yes, I did have some tea, too)

Also, there's nothing like including an 18 month old child in the party to break the ice!

Later, we reached the cocktail part of the day. It began with Cosmos. (well, I suppose one could say it began with the Pimms, but that hardly counts. It's really only a fruit delivery system)

Later there were Mai Tais, and other things. (E has a Big Book of Cocktails, and we let the boys make them. They kept wandering back in with a big jug. And once with a whole tray of shot glasses. It worked pretty well) at some point in the evening the conversation turned to diet, and we established (to our own satisfaction, if not that of any passing nutritionists) that a G'n'T counts as one of your 5 portions of fruit / veg a day (I mean, it's got lime in. And juniper berries) Also drinking a glass of wine counts. It's EXACTLY the same as a bunch of grapes...

It was a fun evening. And then later on, it was a fun night. Then the clocks went forward and it was 3 a.m and there was the challenging 'unfolding the sofa-beds and inflating the airbeds' part of the event.

And then, after a lengthy pause, there was tea, and toast, and that traditional breakfast food, twiglets.
And then I came home. And had a very early night.