Old versus new!

After dropping Sophie off at work, Keith and I popped to the Co-op in Moulton and bought all of the salad stuff we needed for tonight's Wine Evening. I even bought some early strawberries to put in the Summer Punch cocktail I was serving beforehand.

Back home we enjoyed poached eggs on toast in the conservatory before I made a start on cleaning the downstairs of the house. When we took Mike to work we realised we needed butter and napkins so it was off to the Co-op in Brixworth to get those! There's always something!

I spent the rest of the day giving the downstairs rooms a good clean and setting the table ready for tonight. I do like it when the house is all set and looking clean and tidy! After having a bath Keith and I settled down to watch the Grand National as we had both backed several horses in the race. I chose Seeyouatmidnight which I think stood a good chance.

I have no idea why I actually watch the Grand National as it always has me in tears and today was no exception. Seeing the horses fall was horrible and at one point I couldn't stand it any longer and got up to run out of the room, but I still watched. What amazes me is the riderless horses gamely jumping along with all the others!

Unfortunately neither Keith or I had a winner (and neither did the children who had picked horses) but it was great to know that all the horses were fine after the race.

We went to collect Sophie from work and then carried on to get Mike as he said he was finishing at 6.30pm. It's been a beautiful day today so we knew he would be busy! Even though he said he'd be finished we still waited twenty minutes for him to come out, and I was champing at the bit as I needed to get home and put the finishing touches to the buffet and get changed! I was just glad I'd made the salad before we left!

Keith and Sophie helped prepare the food and I went to get changed. Michelle and Richard arrived at 7.30pm and Sue and Paul shortly afterwards so there was a flurry of welcomes and serving cocktails. Sophie was a huge help as always and she beavered away in the background as we chatted to our guests in the conservatory.

With the buffet I served the two sparkling wines we'd bought - the French Chardonnay from Waitrose and then the New Zealand Oyster Bay. Both of the wines were lovely but we all preferred the French fizz. Next up was Richard and Michelle's wines - a Vouvray from France and a Chenin Blanc from South Africa. Again, the old world won as we all loved the Vouvray!

Lastly we enjoyed two Merlots from Sue and Paul - one from Chile and a French wine. I preferred the Chilean but it was interesting to note that there wasn't any left in the bottle (or jug as Sue and Paul had decanted it!) at the end of the evening!

We had a really great night and according to Sophie we were "really loud"! Everyone left at midnight so after clearing the table of glasses (Sophie had washed up the plates earlier) and leaving it all in the kitchen for tomorrow morning, it was off to bed!