Celebrations!

Celebrating - firstly Henry's birthday with the whole family, and secondly the fact that we are able to do that celebrating in our brand new conservatory, thanks to Jon and Daniel. 

It really has been one of those weeks, where we didn't dare believe it would be finished. The fact that Jon is snoozing in the corner now, demonstrates how hard he has worked this week doing it....and he lost 4lb in the process! I am ecstatic, although I don't show it, and very very grateful, proud and thankful that I have this new amazing space. Thank you Jon x

Today we were up at 8. The conservatory is not quite finished (I'll tell you about that later) but very much use-able. We moved the dining room table in, as a trial. The same with the small sofa. It is going to be a case of trying things out, to see what works, without it being too cluttered. For today, the table and sofa were essential.

The boys went out to get their hair cut. I cooked and prepared food and rooms. Our first guests from Hoddesdon arrived around 1, followed by the rest at 1.30. A 3 hour drive on a bad day. 

The sun shone. It was a beautiful day, and we spread out and mingled in the garden, summerhouse and conservatory. We ate, we drank (Pimms:lots - see extra photo of me & Manda!)we just generally had a great time. Both mine and Jon's families get on well as we have had lots of these gatherings while at Wandlebury. Yet somehow I felt today was better than any of those. Granted, there was no big fire, but the barbeque was done in one of Jon's small fire pits, so we still did marshmallows. We felt that we had plenty of space, and apart from the tiny kitchen with very little surface space, it was much easier. Henry enjoyed having everyone here, and got lots of nice presents, while spending valuable time with all his cousins.

Just after all the Gibbs' had left for home, the heavens opened. Really opened. Hailstones, followed by bigger hailstones. We made a dash for the conservatory, and the noise inside was deafening! That is when the conservatory got it's first real test for leaks......Jon is yet to fix the flashing along the seam where the frame meets the wall. Then, by the door, a small waterfall gushed down the wall and we all ran about looking for things to soak up the small flood. It confirmed that this final job must be done tomorrow.

As fast as the rain came down, it stopped, and the sun returned. We settled in the conservatory to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Played games. Drank beer. Ate more nibbles, and generally felt happy with ourselves.

Now they are watching football. But guess where I am? Yep. Until it gets dark that it.......because we don't have any lights in here yet!

Cheers everyone!

(see my extra photos for more family/conservatory pics)