Saturday 18 June 2011

Socially whirling

The Sage has had a very jolly birthday.  All his children and grandchildren came to his party and, after lunch, he and his friends spent an hour or two looking at and talking about china, which is enough to make any auctioneer happy.

Looking at my diary, I see that we are going to another party next Saturday.  This is turning out to be the most sociable year we have had for a very long time.  I'm rather awkwardly aware that those to whom we 'owe' hospitality are not, in the main, the ones who have been here, so I'd better get going and find some free weekends to ask them over.  Although it has to be said, it's rather safer to get near the time and phone on the chance they're free - those things planned weeks ahead can become inconvenient in the end.  I don't suppose that we're in any way unusual, in that a free week can suddenly get booked up and the event at the end of it becomes difficult to fit in at all.

Our friend Daphne, who was unable to come today, has suggested that we have a party to celebrate the car's 82nd birthday on 3rd August.  She has known the Sage for about 60 years and remembers when he bought the car.  I shall soon exhaust my pudding repertoire at this rate.

Wink has to leave very early tomorrow morning to get back for the Bod's birthday celebrations.  She says that she will not wake us - although one or other of us is usually awake very early, even if we don't get up straight away.

There was torrential rain today, by the way.  First a hailstorm, which was a bit of a surprise, and then several downpours, with a thunderstorm.  Rain is traditional at this time of the year, of course, but we don't often get hail in mid-June.  Quite impressive.

10 comments:

savannah said...

happy belated birthday to Sage, sugar! xoxoxo

Dave said...

Scattered showers here, some quite heavy, but not long enough to call proper rain. No hail or thunder though. We could easily have fitted a cricket match in between the showers.

Christopher said...

Cool, north-westerly breeze here last night while you were revelling, so we ate indoors rather than outside, and pudding - at any rate dessert - was framboisine, strawberry ice-cream coated with raspberry coulis, chopped almonds and whipped cream. No match for what was on offer at The Sagebush.

Z said...

I was busy at the time of the hailstorm and didn't go out to look (but not too busy to look out, of course), but they were big stones, fell for two or three minutes and were heavy enough to overflow the lead where several bits of roof converge and I had to put a towel down in the passageway. The rain was sufficiently heavy to soak the towel I keep on the windowsill where rain alternatively comes in, and wet a second one, but didn't last so long that I had to put bowls out.
I daresay I'll leak a bit too, when I'm very old.

The Sage realises the advantage of having guests round is that we have pudding, or at any rate dessert - I don't make them normally.

Thank you, Savannah. I think I shall have to change his description to The Venerable Sage, now that he has achieved his great age!

Unknown said...

Happy belated birthday to The Sage.

And I agree, I much prefer impromptu social gatherings to the big planned affairs.

Z said...

I love it, no pressure to 'perform' in the kitchen and everyone stands around chatting and peeling potatoes while I cook.

Friko said...

Shropshire is dry again and I need rain to make my new plants survive to next weekend.

As for puddings: at this time of year it's strawberries, strawberries all the way for me. Time after time after time. Most guess will welcome them, or at least, they say they do.

Z said...

It looked like rain this morning, but it stayed dry.

There were a few strawberries left, which I had for lunch. I'd put some strawberries in and on the trifle, but I agree, I'm happy to eat them as they are.

Roses said...

Happy Belated Birthday to the Sage.

My apologies for forgetting his birthday. I had my head up my arse this weekend.

Z said...

I'm not sure that I'd actually said the date in advance, no need for apologies!