Blow

Exhausting but good day. Swimming lessons, bike riding, bakery stop off then back for Summer's 3rd birthday party.

No matter how organised you try to be, the hour and a half before party-goers arrive is always utterly manic and usually sees me dramatically claiming I am *on the verge of a nervous breakdown* several times! I guess having a very full guest house doesn't help matters...in between passing the parcel and distributing sandwich fingers we were showing guests to their rooms, booking tables and giving directions. It was sort of like Fawlty Towers on happy pills...everyone quite content, but a little odd all the same.

My dad has always had a bit of a gangster quality about him. Maybe it's his lanky gait, or his inherent naughtiness. It was quite fitting that as he strode across the yard, fashionably late, the heavens dramatically opened and we all had to rush inside. A bit like the Guns n' Roses November Rain video.

He doesn't find it particularly easy to come to these kind of events, so it was good that he made the effort, and Summer was quite made up that he carried in the cake at the pinnacle of the afternoon's proceedings.

Oh and the cake....definitely a recommended idea....make a normal chocolate sandwich, splurge a bit of extra buttercream around the edge and surround with kitkats. Bob a bit of chocolate fudge icing on the top and then pour on a couple of bags of smarties. Hey presto - nervous breakdown avoided!