A long day...and night!

Sophie woke me at 2.15am when she came into our room to get the hairdryer. I stayed in bed for a while and then dressed and joined Keith downstairs where he was having an early cup of tea. We hauled Sophie's case into the boot of the car and made sure she had weighed it - it was well under her 23kg allowance, which was amazing seeing as she had stuffed so much into it!

On the short journey to uni we saw lots of rabbits but thankfully nothing ran out into the road at us! When we arrived Sophie's friends George and Danni were already there, so after much hugging and kissing we said goodbye and headed home. We didn't see any rabbits this time, just a little Muntjac deer that jumped back into the hedge as we approached!

We went back to bed for a few hours and I woke up at almost 9am with a message from Sophie saying she was just about to board. I managed to exchange a few words with her and then she was off!

My day was spent preparing for our Wine evening - I gave the conservatory a good clean and set the table before cleaning the rest of the downstairs rooms and making a Key Lime Pie for dessert. I also popped out to the Co-op in Brixworth to buy some more nibbles before our main course of Chilli con Carne.

Keith went to see Sileby play and Mike went to Walgrave to see his mates, so I had a relaxed afternoon watching The Affair and putting the finishing touches to the preparations. Keith came home freezing cold so he jumped into the bath and Mike came home saying he was starving!

The evening went very well and we had a great selection of wines. I served Mimosas (Cava, Triple Sec and orange juice) to Sue, Michelle, Richard and myself while Paul and Keith stuck to beer. We then opened the Champagne and the first one, although lovely, lacked something. I had asked Keith to open the wine as I knew I would recognise the wording on the corks and when we tasted the second Champagne I had a feeling it was the more expensive of the two. I was right! The first was a Pol Aime priced at £13.95 while the second was the Taittinger at £35. It had much more depth and bubbles and tasted richer. Both were bought at Tesco (the Taittinger was on offer at £27).

While we enjoyed the wines we all had some nibbles and then we opened the two whites that Sue and Paul had brought. They were thickly swathed in foil and had already been opened, simply because both of them were screw-top bottles. We all liked the first wine and I said it reminded me of the Pinot Gris from Aldi that Sophie and I drink all the time. It was very easy-drinking and fruity. I hazarded a guess that it was a Chardonnay and Paul said I was right.

The second white wine was a bit drier and had what I called, more finesse and I guessed that the second was the more expensive. Both whites were Chablis, the first priced at £9 and the second at £14.

We had a break for the Chilli and I served everyone as there wasn't much room on the table for the big bowls. Michelle said she loved her veggie chilli and had second helpings, so that was a relief! Sue tried some as well and both of them said it was great.

Once we'd eaten we opened the red wine and Sue correctly guessed that it was a Rioja. The first was good but I preferred the second, which was the cheaper of the two at £5.50 and came from Aldi. The first Rioja was £11 and was bought at Waitrose.

My Key Lime Pie went down very well and Monty followed me about meowing incessantly as he thought I was going to give him some! He came with me into the conservatory and everyone made a huge fuss of him! Sophie had sent me a message so I sent her some photos of our messy kitchen!

"Any cream, Mum?"

It was a great evening and Mike returned from seeing friends in Walgrave at about half past midnight. Everyone went at about 1am and although I knew I should really have cleared away and washed up the dishes, Keith made me go to bed. It had been a long day!