I’m back….I think lol
The last couple of weeks have been a bit turmultuous….
* First I was ill…. despite dragging myself to work for most of the week, I eventually ended up having to take time off as I simply couldn’t even get out of bed… thankfully, after a couple of days doing very little besides sleeping, I was feeling a hell of a lot better.
* For the last 5-6 months, my very best and dear friend had been planning a surprise party for his partner’s mum and dad, who would be celebrating their 75th and 80th birthdays, respectively. all well and good I hear you say…. but….. this party was going to be EPIC. Firstly, it was to be held at his house…. secondly, all the chairs/tables/marquees etc were to be bought for as cheap as possible – ebay became a second home….and thirdly, the guest list was running up to approximately 150 people…… that’s right…. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PEOPLE……… in a 3 bedroom (admittedly, a BIG 3 bedroom) house, and 3, 3ft x 9ft marquees outside….. oh, and because they were to have the party at home, 90% of the house needed redecorating!!!
As you can imagine, after LOTS of planning etc, I was just ever so slightly fed up of the whole thing! As the party grew ever nearer, there was LOTS of long hours spent making decorations, collecting chairs/tables etc – then, assembling the marquees, putting down flooring to stop the VERY muddy grass from ruining everyone’s shoes etc(in the couple of weeks running up to the party, it had basically rained non-stop) The day before the party saw me rigging up a “seal” to go where the marquees all joined which would prevent any rain water from dripping onto the guests below….. that night it rained and I remember falling asleep thinking “please hold….please hold” …..
Thankfully, there was only 3 repairs where the rain water had gathered and leaked – overall, the seals had held and providing there was no real heavy rain (or wind) all the guests would stay nice and dry. That morning was a mad scramble to decorate everywhere, lay out all the food, and generally do a quick clear round and make everything nice and presentable for the guests due to start arriving around 4.30pm. ……then disaster struck….
In order to get power to the top of the garden, where some lights and a nice gas heater were, we had to run an extension cable….. no problem….except the one we had spare needed a fuse replacing…..surely not a problem…easy peasy……. yeah….
I’m normally very good at changing fuses and most minor electrical things so I managed to change the fuse no problem…..then I plugged it into the mains….and managed to blow ALL the electric in the garage! This was about an HOUR before the party was due to start!! This meant that had NO light in the bar (which was in the garage)…..NO lights in the garden….NO lights in the tent….. can you see where this is going?
My friend tried everything…to no avail. In the end we had to run a cable from the kitchen, round to the garage, and then carefully plug the various things into it….. we had power again, but it was close. We was STILL doing things right up to the first guests arriving…….. thankfully, I managed to grab some time to get changed and look all pretty 😀
The party itself was a HUGE success and, although we never got round to doing an official head count, at one point early into the party, I counted about 80 people, and there was others who arrived later. In total, we reckoned that there was a good 100 people there that night. My friend’s partner’s mum and dad were overwhelmed – they had been led to believe they were going out for a nice quiet meal!!!
The “Disco” tent
The main marquees
my friend and the sweet cart we made (I painted the sign 😀 )
finally all ready for the guests
We even had a bar!
yours truly 😀
The sweet cart that was a hit with all
After the party came the clear up…… over a week after the party and we are STILL clearing stuff!!! Perhaps by this time next year, everything will be back to normal!!
A few days after the party, I was exhausted and falling into depression. Work was getting to me and I felt emotional and seriously not my usual happy self. I’ve had bouts of depression before, and I knew that I had managed to come out of the other side… as always, my friend was there as my rock and he helped me come back from the edge.
During this time I had very little interest to write, or do much of anything.
Thankfully, for now, the cloud has lifted and I am happy in myself once more. and so I am back writing here 🙂
And now I think I might have a cuppa, and quick skim of my emails and then think about heading to bed,
Night, and Blessed Be xx
Down the rabbit hole... 