Table decorations

We woke up to rain, which then cleared by late morning and we had a lovely sunny afternoon. Tommy and Inca went out for a long walk on Chobham Common, while Gavin walked Xena in our local woods.

Straight after breakfast I started preparing the food for today's lunch, and I was busy doing that until our guests arrived at 12.30, I just managed to finish getting everything ready. The side of salmon from the Glaswegian fishmonger was delicious, I basted it in a harissa, olive oil and honey mixture and roasted it. I made four substantial salads to accompany it - a quinoa salad, a beetroot, asparagus, feta and walnut salad, a soba noodle, pak choi, tenderstem broccoli and smoked mackerel salad, and a tomato and mozzarella salad. It took time but everything worked out very well. 

Our friends arrived on time and were not delayed by the busy roads around us due to the M25 closure. There were seven of us at lunch, and apart from Gavin and my friend's partner,  we were all at university together and have known each other for over 40 years! They all enjoyed the lunch very much and there is still so much food left over.

Tommy really wanted to see all of them but by the time he got back from the walk and their pub lunch they had left. He and Inca were invited to join us for lunch but they wanted to have a day together as they will not see each other for a few weeks now.

Poor Adam had a disastrous marathon. His knee was sore before he started running, and at about 10km into the marathon it became very painful. He lasted until just over half way, passing the halfway mark and 1 hour 40 minutes but was forced to pull out of the marathon at 24km. He is so disappointed as he had trained so well and was fit and ready to complete the marathon in a good time, but it was not to be. He then had to try and walk to a place where he could meet up with Anna who had been waiting at the end of the race for him. Adam's friends running the race all did well and had no injuries. 

I had absolutely no time for photos today, so after everyone had left and I had cleared up I took a photo of the little flowers that were on the dining table as decoration.

Now the lunch planning is out the way, I must start planning and thinking about the trip to Namibia on Friday.