Family Party

Sam and I headed off after coffee and toast, at 0830 we were heading east.
First stop just up the road for fuel and air then out and onto the A30.
Second stop, Tesco’s at Middlemoor, Exeter, oil for the car and an all day breakfast with more coffee.
Third stop Farnborough where we were booked into a chain hotel for one night. Bags dropped and then downstairs for a beer or two and something to eat before heading back up to the room for a shower and change of clothes.
Sam and I walked the mile and a half to the party venue where one or two had already arrived.
Nieces Penny and Gemma were having a joint 40th Birthday Bash and a very nice party it was. There’s something special about family gatherings, almost all of us were there and it’s great to see everyone. There was one point where I realised that with our parents and their siblings gone I am now probably the oldest Stevens in our ‘tribe’. It didn’t stop me enjoying the evening though.
Midnight and ‘carriages’ as it’s known saw Sam and I retracing our steps back to the hotel.
Both slightly the worse for wear but in that happy state where everything in the world seems wonderful.
Main photo, Sarah and Barry, my two eldest.
Extras, my granddaughters practising with balloons + Penny and Gemma, the Birthday Belles