edd gets a birthday party

Food being prepared for the party

Yesterday we had a big party for Edd’s birthday. Edd has an unfortunate birthday date and it is usually forgotten in the midst of all the other seasonal events.   He was a bit upset that his 70^th passed with out being noticed so we decided to make up for all the neglected times this year.

 All the family, this time plus Wayne’s mob gathered in the ruins with long-term friends for a massive feast.  Bo organized all the food but she used a lot of farm produce supplemented by loads of fresh fruit and other luxuries.    We put tables in a long line under the shelter shed and laid the food out as a smorcas board so everyone could suit themselves.    Danni, Wayne’s lady, did a wonderful job arranging the food onto the plates in a very stylish way.   She is amazing at this sort of thing; in fact everything she does is done perfectly with real class.

It was a very hot day and Edd and I had worked hard trying to get the ruins and gardens looking their best.   Luckily the pool is a lifesaver in these conditions.  I had a swim before the guests arrived, and the kids and some of their parents all frolicked in the water as an alternative to cool alcohol consumption.    Silkie redeemed herself after the chocolate incident by being the perfect cousin and looking after Ella in and out of the water.

Today we are partied out.  We have been washing dishes and moving what seems like a ton of empty bottles.  Some thing, probably a dog, found and ate a whole box of chocolates.    Neither of our dogs is looking at all sick so may be it was Rosa, Indi’s dog, or perhaps our dogs are genetically able to cope with chocolate.    Alternatively the chocolates may have been more sugar than chocolate, who knows?

Josh has killed some of the roosters and we are cooking them up for meat and dog food. After the Xmas feasts my freezer is really filling up.   It is a large chest freezer but does have a limit to what it can hold.    All this food will come in very handy if we manage to get in working tourists again.    The donga is now clean and set up with beds so this coming year we have room for extra’s to stay.   

 I am a little intimidated by all the changes to the working tourist systems.    Once people phoned you, talked to you and if all sounded well they arrived here with in a day or two.  Now everything is on line and planned ahead.    I am not at all sure about this but I guess it is just another thing I will have to learn.  We used to have “Wwoofers” but my friend has “Work away” people and she has offered to show me how that system works.