Finished

We were home all morning. PY was cleaning, and I was hovering. It was all in case this afternoon's Christmas dinner needed an after-party.

We walked up towards Wimbledon Common and then to The Fire Stables, arriving just before 4 pm. We were shown to the table where M&R were already seated. The area where we'd been seated was otherwise entirely consumed by an extensive group of people having their party. There must have been 25 or 30 of them. Both M&R asked if we could be moved because we felt like we were in the middle of somebody else's Christmas. We were told there was no other space, but the party would settle as their food was due to come out. They seemed very far from settling.

E&P arrived, and we tried to converse, but it wasn't working. It's not that the other people were trying to get in the way; there were a lot of them, and they were surrounding us. Fortunately, E decided enough was enough and told the team that we couldn't stay. We were moved to a table nearer the window. It was much better. The other party didn't quieten down; if anything, they got louder. The staff moved several tables around, and we got a nice area. I feared we'd pushed another large group away, but nobody showed up to the other setting.

We'd all pre-booked our dinners, which became a memory test. But we all managed, and the food arrived delicious and served with good-sized portions. I really enjoyed it and am glad I could enjoy it without having to shout over my conversation. I cleared my plate.

After dinner, everybody did want to come back to carry on the party, so this morning's effort was worth it. We had plenty to drink. We gave R his birthday present—a book of pictures of him in different artists' styles. I guess it's AI-generated, but it was really good, and he seemed delighted with it.

After an hour or two, E&P left, but the others stayed for a while longer. We heated the snacks—the bau buns were a highlight—and had a great evening. They headed out at about 11:30 pm, which meant they must have been in the taxi when the day switched to R's birthday.