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Phoebe and I arrived at Richard and Jane’s at 3pm on Saturday after a hectic morning involving paddling pools, broken washing lines and a false start – having forgotten the bottle of vodka (“Bring drink” – said Jane). We had intended to get up early and get to Alton in the morning in order to help Jane get stuff ready. First apology then goes to Jane for failing abysmally in this quest. However, upon arrival I didn’t feel too guilty as Jane, Vikki, Lynne and Di had everything under military fashion control.
Three o’clock perhaps in retrospect should be renamed “Pimms O’Clock” as the first jug of Pimms was served complete with an abundance of fruit and freshly picked mint and was sipped on the patio whilst catching up with everyone.
The pub goers had already returned by the time we arrived and “war games” (sorry – I cannot be any more specific here due to my ignorance – but it involved lots of very small soldiers being moved around on a table by several people) were well under way in the garage. Those involved looked thoroughly engrossed. I had a bit of a look but couldn’t understand what was occurring so I drifted back to the patio – which was lucky as it was Pimms o’clock again, with more fruit and mint. Di and I compared sunglasses.
People continued to arrive – more Tillier’s such as Darren accompanied by Shel, Carol, Simon and the girls, Dave, Amanda and Sophie, and other selected non Tillier’s guests, and of course the band – “Original Gravity”. Soon the barbeque got under way with a range of delicious dips, meats and salads. There was much munching, more chatting, general merriment, and I am sure that at some point in time it was Pimms o’clock once more.
Whilst munching, I had an interesting chat with Adrian and Sue from The King’s Guard and typically put my foot in it when Ols arrived and for some Pimms-related reason I got it into my head that Ols was Adrian and Sue’s CO. Adrian duly explained that he is in fact the Company Commander. Second apology to Adrian then! No offence was taken and Ols joined us at the table and proceeded to tell Sue about his gammy toe. I left at this point and went in search of the Pimms.
When everyone was replete with savouries, we ate strawberries, cream and assorted cakes. The band then took up residence and began to play – all the old favourites – “Whiskey in the Jar”, “Jacobites”, etc. They were - as usual – excellent and I had my video camera poised to catch as evidence (and possibly to have submitted for a psychological study) the antics of Richard et al. when the “Chicken Song” was played.
had all but run dry! We drained the jug – (third apology to Amanda who didn’t get any of the delicious dregs)- carried on “singing” and eagerly awaited “The Chicken Song.”
At about 10pm, Phoebe decided that she wanted to go to bed, so off we went to Katie’s room and as I was tucking her in – lo and behold - I heard “The Chicken Song” through the open bedroom window. My sister later relayed that the “dancing” was excellent and that Dan did a particularly good job.
Apparently – “The Chicken Song” was not the only thing I missed that day. Earlier (I don’t know where I was at this time), a hot-air balloon had flown over the house at a very low altitude and everyone had waved profusely to the occupants, and later on in the evening (again – notsure where I was) I also managed to miss a hedgehog who had decided to try and crash the party and had to be removed from the front doorstep where he was planning to dash in unnoticed. He was caught before he managed to infiltrate and moved to a place where he was less likely to get trodden upon. The reputation of Tillier’s events has obviously reached the Great British wildlife network. Note to self - better check for stowaway rabbits next time I pack for a muster!
Anyway, the evening gradually wound down with the band finishing to rousing applause and people saying their goodbyes and drifting off. The various remaining children headed off to bed and more cake was consumed (fourth apology to Jane as I finished off the last slice of lemon cake) followed by coffee and finally the port came out. Icrashed out at about 2am to the tones of Dan, Nigel and Geoff (a possible new recruit) snoring in the living room. It was kind of comforting in a strange kinda way. And disgusting in another.
And that was that! I think I speak for all present when I say that a thoroughly good time was had. So – thanks once again to Jane, Rich, Katie and the boys for hosting the event. Fine weather, great food, fantastic company and excellent banter. What more could a Tillier’s wench ask for? More Pimms anyone?
Kate