Celebration Day

I was sitting in the kitchen, enjoying my morning coffee and debating whether I should go and get washed and dressed, yet. The iPad rang. It was Ellie; "Grandpa can you come around and help mummy empty the lounge ready for my party?" I guess that made my decision. I finished my coffee, completed my ablutions and walked around the corner. It didn't take too long, but we shifted the two parts of the sofa, the footstool, and the desk in the garage. Ellie vacuumed the detritus that had accumulated under the sofa, and I showed Zoe how to extend the dining table (which had been ours until recently).

I returned home for breakfast and then connected to the weekly Zoom call. This followed the usual mishmash of banter and news. One subject of interest was a recent BBC segment discussing Margate Football Club, which included clips of Francis (Uncle Frankie, as he's known at the club), Maggie, and Sharon.

DPD delivered a device that Di had ordered. This is similar to a huge bicycle pub and should create a vacuum to draw water from the rill and filter it. It was a bit of a devil to put together but looked "feasible" when complete. I took it out to the garden to try it. It didn't seem to work. The plunger went up and down as expected, but it didn't seem to create sufficient vacuum to draw the water in. I fiddled, I re-read the instructions, I took it apart, I reassembled it, I tried again. Nada. I followed this procedure again and again had no luck. On the instruction leaflet, there was a phone number to call. I called. Nada. They are closed at the weekend. It will have to wait until Monday.

With rain forecast over the next 24 hours, I took the opportunity to dig out the leaf vacuum and clear up all of the fallen leaves that had lingered on throughout the winter.  I managed to get two huge bags full in about 15 minutes. 

After some lunch and some Kindle time, we went around to Zoe's. A table had been booked at "Smith and Western" for her birthday treat. We had to take two cars to get us, Zoe, Ellie and her friends to Chichester. We were greeted by the cacophony of a busy "country and western" styled restaurant packed with various parties, all trying to be heard over the music. As birthday treats were delivered to various tables, the staff jangled triangles and beat tambourines while singing Happy Birthday. I should have brought ear defenders!

Despite the apparent chaos and noise, the food was very good. The girls all chose burgers or hot dogs from the children's menu. Zoe chose a New York burger, Diane had a club sandwich, and I had a rack of ribs. The helpings were generous, and the food was delicious. It was not "fine dining," but it was very good. I suspect that a lunchtime visit during the week would be a little less chaotic.

We all headed back to Zoe's to cut the cake and ensure everyone was sorted. It was almost noisier there than at the restaurant.

The girls put on their PJs and their special robes, and then Zoe cut the cake. Like the decorations, the theme for the cake was Wicked. This meant that half was green and half was pink. There was some debate over who wanted a slice of which colour. Nana and Grandpa headed home clutching slices of green cake!

Walking in our front door, we were greeted by Jasper. He had to wait. I was not doing anything until I had a glass of wine, and my ears had stopped ringing!