Pool party proves popular...

Well.  In the words of our dear friend Anna, that'll be that then!  :-)

No matter how organised you think you are for a get together, there's always last minute things that need done and today was no exception.  Poor David was running around like a blue arsed fly busy person arranging chairs, last minute tidying, taking Lola for her walk, organising the "bar", making Andrew French Toast (he likes it crispy don't you know!) and last minute hoovering to get rid of Lola's hair.  She is casting like there's no tomorrow.

Meanwhile I was lying flat on my back upstairs having smeared my lower back in Ibuprofen max strength gel and taken two full strength co-codomol, hoping if I stayed still for an hour, I would be able to get up and function like a normal human being.  Well as near normal as I get.  Which to be fair, isn't very normal :-)  It seemed to work.

I came downstairs to find Alan and Andrew already in party mode.  Alan was looking very smart in his new shirt, trousers and waistcoat!  He didn't want his photo taken though.  

Once in the kitchen, I got stuck into preparing the buffet (when I say preparing I really mean opening boxes and putting stuff on plates, although  I did make the malteser slice and melted another block of chocolate to make the final layer because the 600g of chocolate already in it clearly wasn't enough.)  

I had just finished buttering and jamming the last pancake when the door bell rang and Alan's first guest arrived.  Gill!  He was over the moon to see her.  She had a very exciting gift for him, a poster of a very lovely, bikini clad young lady.  The only problem thing was the model had Gill's face!  I laugh so hard when I saw it, I thought I would put my back out!  Despite staring intently at the poster, it took Alan few minutes to start laughing.  I guess the first thing he looked at wasn't her face!  :-))

Soon after Gill, other friends began to arrive and after saying hello, Alan and Andrew got changed into their swimming gear and got in the pool, along with Lisa and Shelley and followed closely by his pal Lucy and her mum Jean.  The music was blaring, the lilos were pumped full of air and the fun began.  

They all had a ball!  I didn't take many photos as I was to busy enjoying myself!  Plus my camera kept steaming up when I went into the pool area.  It is so warm in there.  We had arranged garden chairs around the pool so those who weren't going in the pool could go through and sit at the side and be part of the fun.  It's so hot though, there's only so long you can sit there.  I was in there for about 10 minutes and my straightened hair was curly when I came out. 

It was lovely to catch up with some folks we hadn't seen for a while.  After an hour and a half in the pool, Alan, Lucy and Andrew, Shelley, Lisa and Jean were like prunes so it was time to get out, despite Alan wanting to stay in for longer.  He was exhausted but happy.  And that's the main thing.

After some more food from the buffet and refreshed drinks glasses, and more chat (the young ones disappeared to Alan's sitting room) people headed off home.

Andrew had eaten so many pancakes, scones, profiteroles, macrons, mini Empire biscuits and malteser cake, he didn't want any dinner!  By this point I think the excitement of the day and caught up with him and Alan and they settled down to watch a film.  

David got a bin bag and did a quick clear up and found Alan's birthday cake still sitting in the kitchen!  We'd forgotten to light the candles and sing Happy Birthday!  Thankfully that won't bother Alan in the slightest as he's not particularly keen on that ritual anyway.

Before Andrew left he was keen to get a date in the diary for his next visit so that has been duly arranged.  David has just returned from taking him home and we are just grabbing a final cuppa before bed.

We will sleep soundly tonight!  :-))