Hello dear friends, last weekend we hosted a party to celebrate my 65th birthday! Some people suggested that we were crazy for having guests when we are part way through a major renovation and that is true. But we decided to go ahead anyway!
Thank goodness my 2 sisters in law were on hand for most of the day to help us with our preparations. They were very busy helping arrange outdoor furniture, getting the tent set up and helping to wrap the veranda to protect everyone from the promised wind and drizzle. They were very efficient and managed to squeeze in a quick rest break on the dock.
We had set the date and invited friends and family a couple of months ago to give everyone lots of notice. Then about 3 weeks ago we started watching the long term weather forecasts and spoke to our contractor about where we could expect to be with the renovations. Our plan was to start our party at the lakehouse and then move to the main house for dinner. Even though there is no power in the stone house the subfloor in the living room would be down and we thought we would set up tables, chairs and Edison lights in our gutted living room. With all of the stone walls exposed we thought it would be a fun place to enjoy our food and conversation.
Well, for various reasons our Plan B was no longer an option so we went with a Plan C and hoped for the best!
The weather forecast for Saturday called for winds gusting to 40 kph and off and on drizzle. We purchased a tent and converted a sheep shearing platform into a make shift stage for the musicians that were playing for us. Since we couldn't move our party inside we wrapped our veranda is big plastic sheeting to keep everyone dry,
As it turns out, the weather cooperated by staying dry which was a huge relief as we started out booking an emergency vet visit for Abby and then our tent blew over in the wind. Our party started in the lake house around 5 with lots of beverages and appetizers. Chaos ensued when our party was crashed by the big dog that lives next door. We are not sure how he found the party but he did and wasted no time muscling into the lake house in an attempt to score food. It is too bad we didnt think to take pictures of those few minutes of mayhem.
We set out glassware and plates so guests could help themselves. I had polished my collection of vintage silver earlier in the week. Time still got away from me so I didn't manage to get pictures of everything set up.
As always we had lots of food. Since the weather at this time of year is mild we barbecued. The menu included grilled shrimp, 2 kinds of chicken, 2 kinds of pork, peanut noodles and a Thai salad. I always make too much food but am always afraid of not having enough.
The stunning cake was provided by my sister in law. Everyone knows I love to garden so the cake was made to look like flowers in a bucket with a little hand fork surrounded by a hose. Not only a work of art but the cake was delicious.
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We hired a local group of musicians and they were fantastic. This is our first time having live music and it was so popular with our guests who sang and tapped along.
We all had a great time.
The clean up always takes me forever. We love to host friends and family and it makes us so happy to see people relaxed and enjoying themselves.
Now it is back to life in a construction zone.
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