Gail’s 50th Birthday Party

Today’s the day of Gail’s party. Most of us were up reasonably early: Vanessa went out for last-minute shopping and to collect a few things she had ordered from M&S; Dash set about making his excellent loaves of bread. The older boys and I were put to work moving furniture and tidying around the place. I revived the uber-chilli from its frozen slumber and baked some sausage rolls. We’d booked an Airbnb on our street, just across the road, for Gail, Ed and Tara to stay overnight. The party was a great success—everybody enjoyed the mountain of food, guzzled prosecco and cocktails, and puzzled away at Vanessa’s quiz. Monty and Dash finished in equal first place, with 16 points each… but Monty sneaked a win on the tie-breaker question to claim his £20 prize. It turns out octopi have three hearts… who knew?

Out of several hundred pictures taken during the day, I chose this one for my daily blip because it shows off the fantastic festive display Vanessa worked hard to create… the cakes, bubbly, food, and the wall of embarrassing old photos that are mandatory for a big birthday bash.