Birthday Party

It was my 26th birthday last Wednesday and I had a lovely week including afternoon tea,  dinner in a field (which I'll blog about another day) and culminating in a party on Saturday.

birthday morning

I received so many lovely presents: a microphone from my husband, a drinks dispenser from my mother-in-law and the cast iron pot from my parents. When I got to work, a girl in the lab and her boyfriend had made me a very yummy victoria sponge. Mike and I spent the evening eating sardines, chips and m&ms, drinking cider and watching How I Met Your Mother (we are on an epic race through a borrowed box-set before we leave Oxford).

My party was on Saturday, we used the marquee which belongs to the residents association in the close and had tables for cakes, drinks, games and the TV. I also had a hamper of blankets in case people got cold.

party in a tent

We played lots of board-games, had a bbq (with s'mores at the end) and somebody even went swimming in the river that runs through our village! I spent my birthday money buying burgers, sausages, cake ingredients, drinks and accessories (note the stripey paper straws!) and it was definitely the best way to use that money;  to have lots of friends gathered and [hopefully] having fun - though luckily some people couldn't resist and brought extra cakes and drinks with them including a beautiful dessert wine which Mike and I enjoyed finishing last night and a treacle tart which got eaten up almost straight away. I also got more lovely presents from generous friends including flowers, a cheese-dome, a book and a very pretty sugar pot and milk jug. I am a lucky girl indeed.

In the evening, those of us left over snuggled up and watched the artist in the marquee. I was inspired by the Jubilee party in our close at which we watched kind hearts and coronets during a gale with driving wind and rain. Saturday's weather was much nicer! Mike managed to fall asleep for most of the film but he still had a pretty good idea of the plot by the end.

Special thanks must go to Rach and Andrzej who arrived early to set everything up, brought cake and stayed to help us pack down in the morning.

All in all, it was a lovely way to say goodbye to Oxford and our village and now our hearts are turned towards planning the move. 3 weeks to go.

Claire
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