General Chat

It's like talking to the kids isn't it.......and then??? :-D :-D :-D

Now, apart from one nephew who has been seconded to Albany for a couple of years and would need a good four hours drive, the rest of the family were all travelling from Perth, which, if there are no incidents on the freeway, would normally take less than two hours, although granted that’s from the city centre and my family all live north of there.

Meanwhile, my daughter is only twenty minutes’ drive from us

2.30pm my brother and SIL turn up. First thing that my sil does is to produce a container of fried rice which she wanted to heat up in the microwave for her ‘lunch’ She then very politely offered some to me. My SIL is an extremely intelligent woman who has a Doctorate in some weird medical related subject (which could explain why she is now working as an Audiologist) but she is not very practical. However, I’m surprised that in her rush to have her lunch, even she failed to notice the food being prepared in the kitchen (OH was preparing the green salad and chicken pieces at the time). :-S

Apart from the fried rice SIL had also brought a banana cake and a boxful of some type of Japanese roll. I should, perhaps, explain the my SIL is Chinese and much prefers Asian food over European style meals.

At around this time the rest of the family, with one exception, turn up virtually together, with various apologies and reasons for being late, for example, booking into the caravan park and having LUNCH!
That could have been my fault as on the invitation that I sent out I did say that we would be serving finger food. To me that means food that you can eat with your fingers rather than a three course hot meal.

I must be the thick one in the family :-D

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Looks like you should have underlined Finger Food.

Normal people (cough)would have waited until they turned up to see what food there was











:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

So are you eating leftovers for the next week?

Lizx

Yep, we are PSD :-D

So, despite one missing family, we started to put the food on the table, first the carrot and celery sticks and the dip; realised we had forgotten the Polish sausage and biscuits and hurriedly put those out. In the meantime crisps had been distributed, a large packet of cheese and onion flavour and the same in plain flavour.

3.30pm the missing family arrive. We now have five children here ranging in age from 14 to 3!

Sandwiches, prawns and salad went out. Everyone seemed to be enjoying them. We had also done some cocktail frankfurters for the kids which went down a treat

Then the children started to chase through the house!

SMASH! A vase in the hallway, which had particular sentimental value and beauty to us, lay shattered in the hall. The only saving grace was that it had been broken by the three year old who was bawling his eyes out.

I then decided to open my presents.

Now, I never before had occasion to wonder what my family thought of me, but on opening the various goodies they must have formed the view that I’m an alcoholic homicidal maniac as I received three bottles of whisky, a numbered bottle of vintage wine a set of steak knives, a set of kitchen knives, and an extremely expensive Japanese stainless steel cleaver!:-D :-D

This view was reinforced when later in the evening my son and his partner presented me with two further bottles of Scotch. ( I don’t count my son as being one of those late as, unfortunately, he had to work and didn’t finish until 6.00pm)

Sounds like a good family day Allan. Shame about the vase though, when we have little ones coming I must admit that I pack everything breakable away for the duration. Your presents sound rather like my Christmas presents, minus the knives. Years ago senior family members would be presented with smellies, bath salts etc. Now it seems to be booze .......- sign of the times?- :-D :-D

Sad to hear about the vase, and looking at the gifts you have to wonder how worried the children's parents were when it happened....how will he react???

The best laugh would be if you now said you're a teetotaler vegetarian ...

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They know me to well for that line, Caroline :-D

The kids ran riot through the house and garden and at one stage I actually had to shout at the 14 year old great nephew for strewing some material we were drying around the garden. :-| :-|

We grow a lot of broad beans and each year cut the haulms down and dry them for kindling for the fire. These we store in one heap in the garden prior to storing them under cover. We made him pick them all up and put them back where they had come from :-D :-D

The annoying thing is that his mother (my niece) is a bit of a snob and lives in a very expensive house in Perth, and I'd give a penny to a pinch of snuff that the children are not allowed to run riot there :-|

Oh Allan .... it could only happen to you! :-0 :-0 :-D :-D :-D :-D

It gets better, Jem, or worse, depending on your point of view!

Oh no - children running riot - and a 14 year old 'interfering' with your garden :-| :-|
He should have known better :-| :-|

Not him, Maggie, but his parents should have been more watchful.

The problem with my family is that they live in each others pockets and continue that trend when at other gatherings. At one stage they were all in the kitchen having a good old chinwag and totally ignoring those guests who were not from the immediate family :-|

a around five o'clock the party started to break up. One nephew had brought his MIL with him and she was flying back to Malaysia the following day so they were heading straight back to Perth.

The rest of the mob were staying at a local caravan park about a five minute drive away.

So with the house in a mess but finally peacefully quiet we started to tidy up.

I looked in the fridge and there some cocktail frankfurters in there. On enquiring why they hadn't been put out I was told that they were for my son and his partner and her two young girls! :-0

I politely informed OH that the extra frankfurters for them were in the outside fridge. :-(

After one of our vigorous and forthright debates we ventured out to said fridge where we found not only the franks, but also the cold meats which should have gone on the platter plus the water and rock melons which should have gone on a fruit platter :-|

Ah! exclaimed OH, I wondered where they were.

She'll never know how close she came to finding out how sharp those knives really were :-D :-D :-D

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Allan :-D :-D :-D

At least you won't be hungry for a few more days still.

We've finished the salami and ham.

There is one dismembered chicken in the freezer waiting for cooler weather so that it can be converted into soup. There is also a kilo of frankfurters in there,. plus sundry bread rolls and loaves of bread

And with all that, yesterday we had a Chinese take-away for dinner :-D :-D :-D

That's okay you always feel hungry an hour after eating a Chinese takeaway anyway :-D

Allan copy & paste this thread & then you will know who not to invite next year sounds uneventful really xx .better still you & OH have a holiday ;-)