From 'La Mole' to Penge

We have been rather busy for the past few weeks. Now I've started to feel a bit more relaxed: it's my last day at work for almost two weeks.

This is a summary of what we've been up to in the last few weeks: you'll see a lot about baking and about our Blooms of Penge stall.

The first week in November we went to see Anne Reid and Stefan Bednarczyk in "Just in Time" a cabaret that "celebrates the lives and work of American lyricists Comden and Green," at the Studio at the St. James Theatre. It was an enjoyable evening.



Then it was time for the first of 3 Christmas fairs we took part in.
This one was at our local church:



The following week-end I decided to re-paint the bathroom. "Jasmine" satin-wood on the sloping wooden ceiling and "arsenic" on the walls.
It was much a harder job than I anticipated, especially as the bathroom is so small.
After doing the first coat of satinwood paint on the Saturday bending at strange angles to reach some awkward corners (please feel free to insert your jokes here!), I woke up in the night with my back blocked and almost unable to move. In the morning I could only walk with the aid of a stick, but I decided to do the second coat regardless, and somehow it eased off the stiffness.

In the afternoon the three of us (Adrian, myself and my stick) went to see

at a small theatre above a local pub. It was hilarious!
And we learn a new description of Penge: "Penge is where London vomits over Kent!"

The walls were painted in the week after work, and my back also gradually improved to go back to normal after about 10 days.
And here's the finished bathroom! (It was straw yellow before)







The following Sunday we took part in the "Diggin' Design" fair at the Garden Museum.
Here's a grumpy Adrian (he is not a 'morning person'!) on the bus looking like a very posh bag lady! LOL!





Sales were very disappointing: maybe our cards/calendars are just too old fashioned (like us, perhaps).
One certainly couldn't blame the layout and look of the stall: Adrian always does such a stellar job.





The week-end after, we spent both days at the Alexandra Nurseries our local garden centre/cafe'/vintage shop for their Christmas fair.
Saturday was the coldest day this autumn; luckily as we were a couple of minutes away from home, every so often one of us would go back to thaw in the bathroom (the warmest - the only warm! - room in the house)









The week before the fair, Adrian applied his talents to decorate our home for Christmas. He put so much work into it and these pictures don't do it justice.

















I took Monday off work to have a rest from the fair, and start baking!
That week I baked every night after work and all day on Saturday, often past the witching hour. After the last push on Sunday morning/early afternoon, we were ready - just in time - for our "Sparkling Christmas Afternoon Tea" at 3 pm.



(Adrian baked the scones and the Chocolate Guinness cake, and made all the sandwiches, and set the table, etc.; I baked the other cakes and the patisserie)



















A few people didn't turn up: some were ill and some forgot, so the house wasn't too crowded. And I even managed to enjoy myself! The last guests left at around 11 pm.



And this is from Wednesday night. A smaller party for Adrian's Italian class (this time everyone contributed with food).



And now, I think, we deserve a rest! LOL!

Our little summer party went very well.




 
Our 23 guests all enjoyed themselves and the food









And here are the meringues from my previous post turned into chocolate meringue kisses

They all disappeared very quickly!

Most of our gay friends couldn't make it for one reason or another, so it was really a straight party in a camp house (about 70% of our guests were neighbours). 
I have to say that I quite enjoyed myself (I am not overly keen on parties but Adrian loves them): this time I didn't feel I was just a waiter who got in the way of flirting when he didn't disappear quickly enough after serving drinks! lol

Debz took this photo of us in the kitchen


I think we'll probably have another gathering a couple of weeks or so before Christmas.   

 

As enjoyable as the evening at the theatre was, we couldn't really let Lynne get away without a party - after all, you turn 40 only once.
We decided to invite only who we thought were - in Adrian's words - her nearest and dearest; the problem was of course surprising Lynne.

We managed last year with a mid-week gathering after a meeting at the police station; this time I came up with the idea of a late morning "breakfast party"!



 

It worked - we got her hook, line and sinker!

She arrived with Miranda (our accomplice) carrying a wash&vac machine we asked to borrow (some mulled wine was spilled on the carpet last week-end); all our guests were waiting quietly in the sitting room and when I opened the door, it was clear that she wasn't suspecting anything as she joked quite loudly about the vacuum giving the best blow job of my life!

She carried on talking as she walked in the dining room,  and when everybody started singing Happy Birthday, she screamed!

It was a lovely little gathering and we all had a great time!

 

 
 

It is my lack of social skills that doesn't allow me to enjoy some parties
I am quiet, soft spoken and hopeless at small talk. And I cannot fake interest to save my life.
It's not that I'm that shy: I am simply very happy to be ignored and left to eat my food in silence, if I don't have anything to say.

We just got back from Wendy's party in Finchley (Wendy is Adrian's ex-boss' ex-wife).
I wasn't looking forward to it at all because this was the kind of party where confessing that you live south of the river is a minor criminal offence.

Still the food was very good! 
And we also met people who voted for Boris (Johnson, the new mayor) *sigh* And still like him *double sigh*

When this very well-off lady (she lives in Hampstead and, apparently, Wendy's whole house fits in her kitchen) turned the conversation to David Cameron and asked what I thought, I just killed it by saying that I had always been told that politics should never be discussed at parties.
Her reply was sharp 'Maybe that's true where you come from!' (Did she mean a foreign country or the gutter?)

Anyway, luckily now I'm at home. And still have a few hours left of the last Bank Holiday before Christmas!

We just got back from Richard and Con's BBQ/Birthday party.

It took a while to get there because I left the piece of paper with their address at home.  And my mobile too so I didn't have Richard's no. either.

I could only recall that the first of the three digits was a 1. We looked for signs of a party and tried to smell a BBQ, but in vain. After some wandering, we spotted a couple who knocked at a front door and it was RIchard who answered it! 

*-*-*-*-*        
It was a mix of bears and neighbours.

I am not very good at socialising at parties (and hopeless at small talk in general) but I made a valiant effort.

I recognised a guy who I used to chat to on-line ages ago and started talking to him:
"Last time I saw you, we were all in Sitges"
   "Yes almost 2 years ago"
"And you were with a stag party. You were the one getting married, weren't you?"
   "Yes it was me"
"Where's your partner tonight?"
   "We split after only 89 days"

Bloody hell, I thought. I put my foot right in it! It was my last overture of the evening.