Let's Party.

What a wonderful day I've had. It was such a pleasure to spend the afternoon in the company of friends, chatting, eating and enjoying the wonderful sunshine.

I have every sympathy for those of you suffering in the current heatwave as I don't like being too hot but here in our valley there is always a cooling breeze even on the hottest day. Hot weather is such a rare occurrence in the UK that no one (except maybe the very rich) has or needs AC.
My friends are all fellow teachers with whom I have worked for many years and I thought it would be nice to celebrate the start of the holiday with a little get-together. We couldn't have asked for a better day and the parasol gave us some welcome shade as we sat out side enjoying a leisurely shared lunch followed by cups of tea and cakes. The cheesecake I made last night was a little soft, probably because I couldn't get curd cheese and used cream cheese instead and also I only had leaf gelatin and may not have used the right amount as the recipe called for powdered gelatin. It still tasted good as did all the other nice things that everyone had brought. Carol brought 2 of her daughters along and they went off exploring up the stream returning with squelching wellies and a handful of stones. Speedy was a big hit as he loves to play and doesn't mind being picked up. It was the first time my friends had been to the house and they appreciated the garden and kindly ignored the fact that there are weeds eveywhere. There just hasn't been time to keep up with all those little jobs while I've been working full-time.

Later we walked up to see the ponies. Sarah came up at the same time to turn Doris into the field and although she didn't have time to come back and join us for a cuppa she invited us back to the stables and introduced us to all the horses in the yard and the big barn. That was so kind of her and made me want to be back working amongst horses again. Maybe in September when I'm only working part time I'll be there volunteering for some stable work. For so many years looking after horses was a big part of my life that I do miss them.

Later after everyone had gone I sat by the scree garden in the evening sun and reflected on the day. It had been worth staying up till the small hours of the morning to get a second coat of paint on the kitchen walls so that I could return all the furniture, pictures etc and make the place more habitable. That made me feel more relaxed and now everything is ready for the rest of this week's visitors. Let's hope there will be more days like today.