The party was a huge success - a beautifully mild evening - Jay and her friends had decorated the straw marquee and it looked amazing, Doug had made a big fire pit, and arranged the spot lights so they lit up the willow trees and the river. It looked stunning. The paella man came with a huge wok and cooked a great meal, followed by the customary ice cream van which trundled down the field with lights flashing and a jolly tune playing. The guests LOVED it and when they were told that they didn't have to pay, they were besides themselves with joy. Really funny, and I felt somewhat smug that I hadn't tried to be the perfect hostess and bake lots of different homemade puddings.
We left them to it after 10 pm as we didn't want to cramp their style, and Joseph and Sophie came to join us in the shepherd hut for a drink before they went home. Josh and Emma also came to the party - it is lovely that both daughters in law are such good friends and are both due to have their respective babies within 10 days of each other.
This morning we were joined by a few pasty faced chaps who had managed to get up in time to watch the first of England's games in the Rugby World Cup - England v Argentina. They just about scraped a win but played appallingly. Johnny Wilkinson missed four, if not five penalty kicks and the rest of the team totally lacked any sort of urgency, discipline or game plan. It appeared as though they were just playing a warm up match and they didn't deserve to win. I suppose they can only get better.....
It has just started to rain and there must still be about 30 of Jay's friends either down by the river or in the house, in no hurry to go home. They are a great bunch and it's great that her friends from Uni, Rugby school and locally have all got on so well.
Robert Thame has just come along on his horse so we all went down to the river in the hope of having some of the leftover beer - Andy's family owns a brewery called 'Joseph Holt' and they have won a lot of awards - one beer in particular is called 'Humdinger' , it has a hint of honey and is scrummy - anyway, needless to say, the bar had been completely drunk dry, and the whole place looked as though a bomb had hit it, with litter strewn all over the field. Needless to say we weren't impressed, and came back up to the house to find them all tucking in to bacon and eggs. They were given a bin bag each and told to go and tidy up, which is what they are supposed to be doing at this moment (having left the kitchen and house in a right mess!) Bless them.......