Allotment Soiree!

France dweller and Party Girl joined me on the allotment this evening after I'd done the watering for a little drink! Party Girl came straight from a day at the beach and was already a little tipsy! Instead of sitting by my shed as we have before I prepared the bit of my plot covered by carpet. I strung lights from the bean poles and used the wheelbarrow as the drinks trolley! We had Prosecco with St-Germain and little bits of cucumber! 
It was really lovely to be sociable once more and to have a drink - I didn't have too much as was slightly anxious about the event! My stomach began to feel squirly so at 11 we headed back to my house and I ate and they drank more - both were well drunk even before I offered a nightcap of Amarula! We talked local gossip, Brexit, Trump and my bowels!!They were both a little shocked when I answered their questions as to what exactly I've been going through this last year. Telling them about my daily panic attacks brought back to me just how much better I now am and just how horrendous my life was for the majority of this last year. I felt so happy that I could talk about it without getting anxious and that I could spend an entire evening socialising. Party Girl made her wobbly way home at 1 and as France dweller was staying in my spare room due to a situation with her mother, a sad feature of her relationship with her mum, we stayed up talking for another hour! Despite the lovely evening I realised I did not want to progress on to reentering the social life of Calstock. This last year has made me appreciate who my true friends are and  made me realise the superficial nature of what I had presumed to be friendships with others in the village. Maybe with more time I may dip my toe in now and again, but I can't forget the insights this last year has given me, and I am enjoying the new lifestyle that has emerged from this very trying chapter of my life. I am so happy that France dweller will be moving back here in September, and the trepidation I had about my ability to cope with her staying with me for a month before she can move into her old house, has been vanquished. I know the IBS is going to give me rough days but I now feel I can take these in my stride, and maybe as I grow ever more confident and stronger in myself, they may perhaps occur less frequently. 
I went to bed a very happy and slightly tipsy madchickenwoman!