You will all be delighted but not the least bit surprised to hear that Penelope’s Surprise Birthday Party for her sister J last Saturday was an outstanding success. To be fair, the weather did not fully cooperate as we had hoped so luncheon was served indoors although there was enough dry weather to allow the youngsters to burn off some of their excessive energy out of doors.
I say “some” of their energy as there were still several megawatts which were released indoors. Pen had made the “mistake” of putting out a range of toys and games in her sewing room hoping that might distract the young ones and keep them up in that end of the house and out of earshot. However, included in the collection of amusements were a selection of dressing-up wigs which were a huge hit and which required numerous episodes of loud shrieking and giggles!
At one point in the afternoon we were all summoned down to Penelope’s workshop to watch a performance by Annabelle and her second cousin “G” which was a hoot. This required much marching and dancing while singing (shouting) at the top of their lungs and simultaneously hammering the xylophone and vigorously shaking some bells – thank goodness the drum kit is still in the cellar. I dread to think what it will be like when they discover that!
After much fanfare and introduction, the girls’ show was about to begin. However, before the performance we were reminded that photos were not permitted and phones must be switched off!
If you’ve been around any four or five year old girls recently it probably won’t surprise you to learn that their “song” was “Let It Go” from Frozen or, at least the part of it which goes, “LET IT GO! LET IT GO!” shouted repeatedly while marching and dancing.
And, by the way, while Concorde taking off is very near the top of the decibel chart and likely to inflict permanent damage, these kids were well off the charts.
Lunch was, naturally, fabulous although I do have to say that there were a fair few gannets amongst the Butler clan. I had done Sandy’s Salmon with Pesto, two sides of a very, very large salmon. I had been somewhat sceptical of Penelope’s quantities and assumed we would be eating salmon for the rest of the week. Once the gannets had descended, however, and it came time for Pen and me to serve ourselves there were but a few scraps left to fight over!
As a surprise it was a great success and as a Happy Birthday party for J it was fabulous.
And thanks to Nick and J for the photos this week.
The Edinburgh Festival has just finished and each year they choose the “funniest” joke told amongst the thousands delivered during the week. This year it was won by a chap named Masai Graham:
My dad has suggested that I register for a donor card. He’s a man after my own heart.
When asked if that was his funniest joke he said, “No, not at all. I do a lot of darker material and dark one-liners, but only the clean material gets on the list.” And, just to prove his point he offered:
I got ripped off in Ireland recently. I bought some cocaine from Limerick but the third and fourth lines were a lot shorter.
You’ll find the Top Fifteen in this week’s Amusements.
We’re off to China on Thursday to meet our most recent granddaughter for the first time about which, I have to confess, we are very excited. It’s likely, therefore, that the Moreton Pinkney Picayune will be on vacation and you won’t see much out of us for the next couple of weeks. No doubt that will be a huge relief to many of you.
Much love to you all,
Greg