After the picnic

CleanSteve is 70 today! As one of his cards said, 'how the hell did that happen?"

He had planned a picnic on the banks of the river Severn. A bit like his 60th, except that then we were on the other side, watching the Severn Bore (once-a- month tidal wave complete with speedboats and surfers). Some of today's assembled company had been at the last party; one of the original band, Mary, has since died (we miss her so much) and others are detained on the Isle of Wight, owing to their adoption of delinquent dogs.

However, despite these absences, the company of 15 or so was wonderful and plentiful, as was the food, and even the sunshine. A kestrel hovered right above us before diving for prey. The two dogs were well-behaved; no one drank too much, and there were enough gluten free treats to feed an army of Intolerants!

In fact, I never even got out the lavish fruitcake I'd commissioned for Steve's birthday, as someone else had brought a cake (confusingly, made by his lawyer: I didn't realise that it was also his birthday...) and we were also beyond full at this point. My gf brownies and non-gf choc biscuit bites went down well, and we still have the fruitily-decorated Christmas cake to enjoy at home for a few weeks. Maybe we'll have a tea party...

This parting shot was taken as the group was sending its way back to the farm track. One person doesn't like paparazzi, so I've had to edit out most of them, which has resulted in an 'abducted by aliens' set of splodges and quite ruined the original, but it was the only photo I took today, so it will suffice.

Back home now, Steve is frying up some leftovers and I'm chilling on the sofa/daybed, while Marvin Gaye Hears it through the Grapevine. Despite the odd panic when our planning went a bit awry, the picnic worked out well, and we couldn't have wished for a happier day. Food, friends, scenery and sunshine: it doesn't get any better than that!




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