We put our presents into bags and our toddler pics into envelopes ready for our birthday reveals.
When it started to cool down we moved inside to start preparations for our evening meal.
The house was very well equipped but none of us could find any kitchen utensils. After a lot of searching they were eventually located.. in a secret top drawer in the drawer handily labelled with 'cooking utensils'.. 🙄
Rather than organise prizes for each competition/activity - as I had no idea how many we would need - I had decided that an ongoing Secret SaS Santa swapathon would be the way to go. Lots of little prizes all sealed in identical paper bags!This would mean that we could have it as an ongoing thing - which is exactly what we did with at least one round a day until everything ran out.
Once the rules had been explained (twice!) we had our first round of SSaSS. Each person picked a bag, opened it and then decided if they wanted to swap with one of the schoolies who had opened theirs previously. So even though you might have picked something that you were perfectly happy with it didn't necessarily mean that you would be keeping it at the end.. 🤣
My coffee tree. I owned it briefly but it soon moved on.. 😁
Sean the sheep. A little ceramic sheep filled with wool - to hang in a tree so that the birds could peck bits out to feather their nests. He proved to be very popular and changed hands several times. As you can see from the photo Linda was already eyeing him up.. 🤣
It all turned into a very funny ongoing game which kept us entertained over several nights - gifts were oohed and aahed over - until someone else wanted to swap and it changed hands.
Carole picked out some packets of seeds which were later found to be out of date. So funny as I'd bought them in an Oxfam shop so I told her to take them back next time she was volunteering so that she could get her money back.
These seeds, which were passed on without her disclosing that they were out of date (sneaky!), ended up all over the group over several nights (we brought back items that we didn't want to keep in the vain hope that someone else would love them!) and were a great source of hilarity each time they reappeared.
Our evening meal was veggie stew and meat curry followed by crumble and custard. All delicious!
** Wendy: 'Consider yourself chinked'. The table was too long to say cheers and clink glasses with everyone.. 😁🥂 **
Some of us went for a short evening walk down to the cove..
.. and some of the others jumped into the hot tub.
The rest of the evening was more chatting, a bit of drinking and loads of raucous laughter. The usual lol.
.. a nonchalant walk-by wearing a face mask.. 🤣
Chris had found her beret, scarf and money belt.
Angela looked totally shocked and Janice looked just.. disappointed.. The reason? Sue had admitted that she hadn't heard of Tom Hardy.. 🤣 Tuesday 19 May
Lovely breakfast served by Chris in her school tabard which she still has..
.. and it still fits her - nothing to do with the tie sides.. 😁
Carol and I were matchy matchy.. 😁
.. we were practising our 'sass' even though we didn't know it at the time!
Janice wandered into my room looking lost.. 'where is Trisha's room to return her hair drier?' she asked.
I directed her (wrongly 🙄) through the maze - but someone put her right and she got there in the end.View from my bed looking out at the yoga room and through to the sea.
Jeanette used the room for her exercises.
Games table with a view.
The ground floor lounge.
The forecast was for rain so we decided that a trip to Sizergh castle would be a good option so that we could scuttle inside if necessary..
.. but the weather was kind to us and we had a lot of fun.. 😁
** Jeanette: I'd prefer a kangaroo's testicle to a bullock's anus' Possibly a conversation about bush tucker challenges on 'I'm a celebrity' or, knowing our lot, possibly not.. 🙄 **
** Trisha to Janice.. 'and you had your clothes on!' Poor Janice.. you strip butt naked once and it's never forgotten!.. 🙄😁 **
This was when we missed Sally (rowing monitor who was coming later) - she could have taken us for a turn around the lake in the little punt!
** Carol: 'I've still got Dick in my lounge'.
Diana: 'We put our mother in law in the garage '.. Ashes related convo. **
Of course we had a little stop for coffee, cake and a sit down.
A supermarket stop for some of us on the way back to stock up on the bits we needed (and some that we didn't - but we were in Booths and it was posh!)
The cashier made the mistake of asking us if we were local and if we were having a party - so we ended up telling the her - and the rest of the queue behind us who we were, why we were shopping and what we were going to do. They were all entertained with our potted history of the last 12 years.. 🤣
Then back to the house.. to find everyone else waiting for us outside as Angela had the key 🔑 - we hadn't thought that one through.. 😁
I started to make some lemon possets and Chris made cocktails.
Matching mocktails for each cocktail.. 🍹🍸
I was then informed that I was going for a walk so Trisha became posset monitor.
I downed my St Germain cocktail and went to put my shoes on - then, when the drink went straight to my head, spent the first couple of miles walking sideways into Diana and telling her about my menopausal toe/bunion.. 😁 she was very polite.. 🤣
** Wendy: 'I'm never going to drink again ' I possibly meant .. and go for a long walk straight after.. 😁 **
We went up. We went down. We went over. We went through. We tried to scale cliffs.
At about the 4 mile mark I started telling Sue that we were going the wrong way. Me, with no sense of direction, telling Sue who walks and map reads virtually every day.. 🤣 It did not go well.. 😐
'Well we can go back along the road if you want, it's shorter' said Sue. 'No' I said like a petulant child 'We'll follow your footpaths'.
'It's like walking with your mardy sister' muttered Sue.. 🤣🤣🤣
.. and then I slid down a rock and fell into the mud. Diana and Joyce helped me up and I walked the last couple of miles with no dignity and the mud slowly congealing on my bum.. ☹️
I told them I was ready for another cocktail. I told them frequently.. 😁
But all that aside it was a beautiful walk! Really. It was.. 🤩
** Wendy: 'It was a lovely walk but there was a lot of it' Just that! **
Meanwhile back at the house the others were having a lovely time sipping cocktails in the hot tub!
Another delicious meal - veggie mac and cheese and chicken satay.
We had a little round of SSaSS at the table. Very funny with lots of swapping.
Then desserts - thanks to posset monitor Trisha who finished them off for me.
Sue bought out the cake that her friend had made for us. It was beautiful!
We didn't want to cut it.
** Jeanette to Sally.. 'Many's the time you've considered eating a penis'.. Once again possibly 'I'm a celeb' related but once again.. possibly not! **
Such attention to detail - each little book had a little 70s related title..
.. and it even had the school badge on there.
Then we retired to the lounge for more chat, more drinks - and eventually another raucous round of SSaSS. Schoolies were already remembering who had nicked their favourite thing or who had palmed them off with something naff.. 🤣
Wednesday 20 May
Our designated big birthday day!
Most of us were up quite early milling around, drinking tea and coffee and chatting about our bunions.. 🤣
.. another of the joys of ageing.. 🙄We decided that snacking and picky food would be the best and easiest way to start our day.
.. and a little bucks fizz of course..We put on our posh frocks, our lippy and for most of us, sensible flat shoes - and we were glammed and ready to go.. 💄💋
We all looked gorgeous.. 🥰Kate arrived to start our photography session and had a wander round the house to find indoor locations as it was quite blustery outside.
Just enjoy yourselves she said. So we did. She put us all at ease and soon had us posing in all sorts of positions. 'Give it some sass' she said.. so we did. She took some beautiful pictures - all in a separate post as this one is already rather lengthy!.. 😁
We took photos all around the house and eventually had a little buffet break before we started again.
Of course we had a photo with our beautiful friend..💕Such good fun we had a ball. We popped out in the garden for our last photos.
Then a very last pic with the cake with those who were around..
Thank you Kate!
Our photo session had been a total success.
The continental breakfast had morphed into a buffet lunch table and the cocktail table was set up and opened for business..
.. and we all enjoyed a Pimms.
** Carole to Wendy: 'You baggage!' No idea what I'd done to warrant such a slur on my character!. **
Carol had written us a great quiz.
We had a 'guess the toddler' competition which was great fun with some schoolies totally obvious and others really obscure!
The ladies arrived to start prepping for our catered meal.
The table had been set in readiness.As Barbara was unable to attend 😔 we put Siobhan in her place so that we were not 13 at the table.
Chris popped her tabard and beret on the lady in the corner.. 😁
Canapés were served - they were delicious.
** Trisha: 'I've had too many chunks' Of what?? The mind boggles.. 🤭 **
Place names for the table hand made by Linda.
Placemats were the poem by Jenny Joseph.. 😁
.. with an updated version on the back by Carla Fandango (Never mind the bedsocks).. 🤣
Main meal.. choice of salmon, chicken or tagine with asparagus and carrots.
** Jeanette: 'Do you mind if I suck my frock?' No, not at all - sounds like you'd spilt something good.. 😋 **
It's a serious business turning 70..
..
though Trisha didn't seem to be too bothered.. 🎉Trio of desserts - chocolate and raspberry roulade, fresh fruit pavlova and key lime cheesecake.
The meal was delicious - the ladies tidied up, washed all the pots and left us to it. Great service..👍
We still hadn't cut the cake as it was so beautiful - we just didn't want to spoil it!
Then it was time for the grand opening of the presents.
** Sue: 'I want to go to the Kahla Frido exhibition'.. Frida Kahlo obvs but she will now be known forever by her alternative name. 😁👍 **
Sally went to drink her cup of tea - only to find it full of tissue paper.
** Sally: 'Who's put rubbish in my tea?' Explanation below.. 🤭👍 **
We had been throwing the wrapping papers at each other and Trisha had thrown a balled up piece of tissue paper at Sally.. only to watch it miss the target and sink slowly into her mug.
Trisha was crying with laughter. Sally decided that she didn't want her tea.. 🤣🤣🤣
** Chris: 'I've just walked into the cupboard instead of my bedroom' There were lots of random cupboards but I suspect that it would have been the dressing up cupboard - she did like that one.. 🤣 **
Once again everyone had been so inventive.
We had another little quiz where we all tried to guess who had bought what - and we were all mostly wrong.. 🤣
After all the frivolity we settled down for a little rest and then had another round of SSaSS. Some of us went into the hot tub whilst some when for a little walk and others chatted and worked their way through the cocktail menu.
.. and then it happened. A power cut!
Luckily we were (mostly) finished with our showers after the hot tub and with the help of our phone torches we made our way back to the lounge. No panic there lol and it hadn't stopped them chatting - it seemed that the whole area was out.
We couldn't find any candles anywhere but luckily after about 10 minutes the power came back on. Don't know what we'd have done anyway if we'd found candles as we had nothing to light them with.. 🤣🤣🤣
Thursday 21 May
It was stormy and rainy when we got up but we had already decided that we were going to have a quiet morning so it didn't matter.
Croissant forming and making proved to be a step too far for Diana.. 🤣
She read the instructions carefully..
.. and then totally ignored them..😁
Sue helpfully (and with great glee - having waited over 50 years to be able to correct one of those we dubbed the 'clever' schoolies) told her the difference between the base and the pointy bit of the triangle.. 🤣🤣🤣
.. and eventually Diana managed to roll the dough into crescent looking shapes..
.. and even got them the right way up on the tray!
The maths teacher pointed out a technicality.. 🙄
Only one or two schoolies had mastered the new fangled oven with too many knobs and dials but it was soon sorted. The lovingly prepared and beautifully baked croissants were delicious.
Carol modelled the croissants..🤣
How many schoolies does it take to turn an extractor fan light off? Three apparently.. 🤣 another new fangled machine..
.. and again.
Our schoolie tablecloth had another outing and names were added.
** Wendy: 'You've closed my back passage ' Just the quick way out through the back door.. 😁 **
When the weather improved we set off for a short walk, firstly back down to the cove. The rain had stopped but it was still pretty windy.
** Sue: 'In future I'll have to bring a large stick to force you all to go out' There may have been some resistance to the idea of a walk.. 😁 **
** Carol: 'I've lit the hob'Carole: 'I hope you haven't it's electric!' **
Some went back to the house and the rest of us walked up to Pepperpot tower.
** Wendy: 'My map's just drawn a pair of testicles' Well we'd walked round in a couple of circles and that's what had been mapped! **
** Sue: 'Who would've bought a bottle of slippers?' I don't know? Did anyone?? **
The detectives soon decided that they fancied drinking cocktails in the Midland rather than puzzle solving.. 😁🤣
Sally and Sue went to Leighton Moss bird sanctuary for a walk and a wander..
.. and Linda, Carole and I stayed at the house and sat in the hot tub until our faces were very red and hot..
.. nothing at all to do with the cocktails which we'd concocted to take in with us.. 🤣
We'd made them in paper cups as the plastic glasses weren't big enough for us.. 😁
.. and we drank most of it before we even got outside.. 😁
A lovely chilled afternoon.
Evening meal was once again delicious.. veggie cottage pie and spaghetti bolognese.
Dessert was Haagen Daas ice-cream courtesy of our Booths shopping trip.
We watched a rolling display of photos of our past events and reminisced about all the funny bits we remembered. Angela bought us packs of Wendy Worms.. 😘 ..who knew?. 🤷
Then the final round of SSaSS. The ladies in Morecambe had done a little top up shop so that we could all pick a final present. What had Jeanette bought?. a ball of wool. We found it hilarious.. 🤣🤣🤣
** Carol: 'You know you've had a good time at the pictures if you leave with wet knickers' The mind boggles - what am I missing by watching the film??. 🤷 ** What a great success the SSaSS had been - we were already planning it again for our AB5 and I'm sure that it will be making appearances at future events. We have belly laughed at the swaps and antics through the rounds - some kind and thoughtful but others downright mean! So funny.. 😁
Friday 22 May
We got up to bright sunshine and the promise of 20⁰ but that was ok. We'd had a mixed bag of weather with some heavy rain at times but it hadn't affected anything we had wanted to do - and the weather each day had exceeded the expectations of the forecasts - the area did seem to have its own little microclimate.
We had the usual food and drink clear out and started to pack our cars.
The cleaning lady noticed that a tree had been uprooted in the overnight wind and rain. Some of the smaller branches were just literally touching Chris's car but no damage had been done. Linda had been parked under that tree until she had taken her car out the previous day so everyone had been very lucky!
With no further drama we finished our packing and started making our ways homewards.
What a fabulous celebration of fun, frivolity and friendship.
Happy 70th birthday celebrations schoolies.. 😘🎉🍹🎂
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