Sophie went to the gym this morning and I made a start on tidying the house and getting everything ready for this evening. I had noticed some bare patches of emulsion on the wall I'd missed in the cloakroom, so I saw to that and made sure the paintwork was looking OK.
When Sophie returned home, she made us breakfast and then I asked her to sort out all the plates, bowls, glasses and cutlery and ensure they were all nice and shiny! I have a thing about smeared glasses!
We tried to sort out the seating arrangement as there are eight of us tonight but really only room for six people! In the end we made it work and by the end of the morning the conservatory was clean and tidy, the table had been set and I'd put a coffee table between the two sofas so our guests could put their glasses on it. The table looked lovely with the silver Next runner and some new tablemats I'd bought, plus my two new salt and pepper grinders and a scented candle. We had even put tealights in the love hearts hanging from the rafter in the conservatory so I was very pleased with how it all looked.
After cleaning the rest of downstairs we made the meringue for the Pavlova and assembled the brioche in an ovenproof dish after brushing the slices with melted butter. I then made the custard which we were planning to pour over the brioche later.
We were able to sit and relax for a while and Mum and Dad popped around with a new ornament for me which I put on the windowsill. They looked very impressed with the house and I made them a cup of tea which they drank quickly as I had to go and have a lovely bath and get ready!
Keith came home from the football and I followed him around to make sure he didn't undo any of our good work. He has a tendency to use the downstairs cloakroom just before guests arrive and will leave both toilet seats up, so I barked out an order for him to put them down! I was a bit tense, to be honest, as it was the first time we'd invited our new neighbours over and I was nervous about how everyone would get on!
Sue had said she would bring over a bottle of Warner Edwards Gin and a some Prosecco to make everyone an aperitif, but when it got past 7.30pm I was glad I'd gone out earlier and bought a bottle of Italian fizz of my own! Richard arrived without Michelle who had gone over to Sue's house as she was running a temperature, and then Paul arrived to say that his wife was ill and would be late.
Of course, with all things like this, everyone arrived at the same time so the living room was full of people all thrusting bags at me with assorted drinks, flowers and chocolates. All very lovely, don't get me wrong, but I was so glad Sophie and Mike were helping! We managed to usher them through to the conservatory and Keith took drinks orders. Paul and Richard stuck with beer and cider while Michelle went for some fizz and our new neighbours, Vince and Sue, had glasses of red.
In the kitchen, the potatoes and the quiche were approaching the end of their cooking time so, with Sophie, I sorted everything out and put the spuds in a casserole dish to keep warm. Sue had arrived by now and my timings for eating were seriously off! I took her a drink and after a suitable interval, invited everyone to eat.
We had prepared a lot of food and I had tried to take into account various dietary needs, but I think I got it seriously wrong when it came to our new neighbours who hardly ate anything. Vince said he had broken a tooth earlier in the day and what he put on his (large) plate wouldn't have covered the palm of my hand. This is the last time I will ever do a buffet type meal! Next time I will just cook a curry and a chilli and be done with it!
I ate last and the children helped themselves to the food as well so ten of us were eating. They disappeared into the living room where I kept hearing gusts of laughter...so nice to hear that from Sophie and Mike!
I have to be brutally honest now and say that I really didn't enjoy the evening as much as I thought I would. Vince and Sue were very quiet and although Michelle asked them questions and we encouraged them to talk about their travels, it was hard work. I brought out my desserts and everyone went for the brioche pudding which they all said was lovely. Sue (new neighbour) didn't have anything even though I offered her some delicious ice-cream as an alternative to my two puddings. I felt a bit mortified and really felt like I'd served the wrong food! Keith and I had the Pavlova which was lovely and very fruity as I'd covered the top with summer berries and a sliced kiwi.
By 11.30pm I was seriously longing for my bed and luckily everyone left by midnight. My darling children had cleared away and washed up so we left the glasses on the table, turned the lights out and went to bed. Phew!
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