Family Day

Angie had organised a family day with the immediate members and those friends who count for us as family - very special close friends, as the Germans might say "Familienähnliche" (as in "common law").

All hands on deck in the morning getting prepared, the grandchildren warming the pool, the boys building a brick BBQ/open fire pit, the girls doing all the important things. J & I disappeared to Ottobeuren for bread and beer taking much too long inspecting the rows of beer crates in the off license,

In the course of the afternoon things came together with coffee and cake and once this distraction was over, the beer and suckling pig etc. Brother-in-law, Gerhard, wonderfully dressed up in Lederhosen especially for the children, insisted I drank one bottle of beer in the evening (he's aware of my liking of coffee and knows I get drunk just looking at a bottle of alcohol free beer). I agreed, and he presented me with a 2 litre bottle of 8% strength beer, just visible in the photo on the table next to a normal 1/2 litre bottle.

Dream weather and a wonderful evening. I can't thank Angie enough for all her hard planning and work as well as all those who supplied beer tables, cakes, salads etc. and of course those who travelled from further away to make it such a great time. I don't want to pick any one out BUT I have to make one or rather two exceptions - ABC &  XYZ were a dream pair taking so much time and trouble to speak English with our European guests living to the west and north of Calais. They thoroughly appreciated it and promised me they had been working on their German since getting home, having now cracked most of the important words - Beer, Cigarette, Wine, Kindergarten, Rucksack & Lederhosen. Almost native speakers it appears.

A day I won't and don't ever want to, forget.