A lively catch up!

After Sophie went to the gym this morning I sneaked back to bed, as I had a long day ahead of me! I woke at 8.30am, and by 10am Keith and I were heading for Kettering to shop for what I needed tonight.

I had changed my mind about what to cook this evening and in the end decided on asparagus wrapped in Serrano ham, paella and a fruity Eton Mess. We shopped first in Aldi, and along with the food, I bought some red and white Rioja. I finished my shopping in Tesco and we headed home to have something to eat.

The rest of the afternoon was spent giving the conservatory a good clean, doing the same in the kitchen, preparing all the vegetables and meat for the Paella, wrapping the asparagus in the ham, making the meringue and setting the table. Sophie arrived home and asked what I wanted her to do, but everything was prepared. I needed her to make the paella later in the evening!

I had a shower at about 6pm and spent fifteen minutes relaxing on my bed before getting dressed, putting some make-up on and lighting all the candles and tealights dotted about. The house looked and smelled lovely!

Lynda arrived first at 7.30pm and minutes afterwards, Andrea and Fiona rang the doorbell. It felt like it had been ages since we'd seen each other so there was a lot to catch up on, and they were all impressed with the new kitchen! We sat in the conservatory with a glass of Cava and some nibbles and had a good chat.

The meal went very well and the asparagus starter was delicious. Sophie had managed to get the vegetables beautifully tender and with some Hollandaise sauce, our plates were wiped clean!

We had an interval between the starter and main course and again, Sophie did full justice to the paella. Keith was content to sit in the living room and nibble on leftovers, and Sophie joined us when we had dessert, which was lovely. She amused us all by talking about our sun signs and did Andrea's birth chart so there was a lot of hilarity around the table!

Just before midnight, while I made coffees, Andrea called for a taxi. but she never received a text confirming it. After forty minutes of waiting she had to call again to discover that the previous booking had been forgotten! They left an hour later, and Sophie and I left whatever needed washing until tomorrow and sat with Keith in the living room for half an hour. It was a very late night and I was so glad we could have a lie-in tomorrow!