FULL HOUSE

Busy does not describe today at all but in spite of that we certainly has a lot of fun. Pancakes were decided upon for breakfast as with a big bowl full of pancake mixture I am ready for any amount of breakfast callers and it proved to be a good choice. One round of pancakes in to the meal the first guest arrived and he had a plate with two large pancakes in front tough him in no time at all.

Another ring of the doorbell heralded the return of and old friend from The United States of America, it is a happy coincidence that he is in England for a short time and that his visit coincides with the party. When everyone had eaten enough they set out for their game and I prepared the house for their party later on.

Eight guests,not counting Pa and I as we usually leave the young ones to their own devices on these occasions, were expected and so the first job was to extend the table and resurrect the chairs from various parts of the house. This done I drew of a flagon of raspberry vodka, made sure that their would be ample cutlery and enough glasses,then with my preparations complete for the moment I got on with my favourite task of the week.

Ironing, the devils curse on woman kind;of all household tasks the most boring,poxy, irritating, frustrating and futile it is in fact a pestiferous waste of time. Rain pelted down as I began on a pile of shirts with a very bad grace. Knowing as I do that no matter how carefully I hang these garments in the wardrobe they will within no time flat be consigned to the wardrobe floor one of the men folk in search of a shirt does nothing to sooth my temper. Worse others will be crammed in to a drawer a tangled clump,either way ,the next time I see any if these items they will be so badly creased that you would never guess that anyone had taken the trouble to iron them and put them carefully away.

Late afternoon bough the gang home from a successful day of pillaging, burning and the rest, the customary huge order of Chinese take-away was ordered, bottles of strange and exotic alcoholic beverages were hauled out of bags and coat pockets and the fun began

Between the guests on these occasions there is a contest to see who can rock up with the strangest,strongest or in some other way peculiar bottle of spirit. Australian Gin tops the lot for me but I must say there have been some weird whiskies and even weirder brandies consumed at these parties. Tonight we sampled some previously unheard of Vodkas...lovely stuff, and being used to my fathers moon shine and the Polish Spirit which was drunk at the home of a college friend I held my own better than moat.

My son seem to take after his mother in that he is largely unaffected by alcohol,so it is always he who puts those guests slightly worse for wear in to taxis. Quite early in the evening Pa and I left them to tell tall tales and yarn about the old days,well some of them are over thirty. Pa read his railway magazines and I put together a children’s quiz for our soon to be held open day.

Sleep claimed me before the guests left and by the time I was awakened by a loud crash my dear son, tired as he was had washed up all the dishes and cleared the kitchen ready for morning,to me he is a hero. Coffee drunk together and a chat about the evening ended our busy day,the house has been alive with fun and laughter and as always feels the better for it.
I suspect that old houses,like old people have their secret sorrows, tonight’s antics gave the dear old place something to smile about, a happy memory for the future.