A commentary in The Age noted that perhaps the time has come to do away with commemorating the Queen's Birthday. After all, most Aussies feel a deeper connection with ANZAC Day.
As a non-Aussie, I say LTTQ, because it's one more day off work for the hubby, which means the family gets to spend quality time together.
Today, we had CA's colleagues over for lunch.
Due to inclement weather, we brought the BBQ indoors and let our trusty Smeg oven do the work. CA picked up a BBQ Pack from Lennard's that was good for four and cost just $30. We feasted on marinated chicken pieces, chicken satay, chicken jumbo and yummy spicy sausages.
The piece de resistance was homemade shepherd's pie, which was well received. The homemade chicken soup was a lovely idea for a winter's day, except it came out a bit flat: too much water in proportion to the ingredients. Pity. (Or "Shame", as our South African friends like to say.)
Dessert was apple pie from Michel's Patisserie, and ice cream. For drinks, we served wine and fruit punch made from canned peaches, fresh kiwi and lemon lime soda. Beth found the latter too sour for her liking, but I thought it cut through the grease from the mains nicely.
When our friends left, we realized they'd been with us for four hours! And that's not counting an hour's drive here and back (they live in the east). What a wonderful gift friendship is.
The more parties we host, the more I am learning to relax my expectations of myself and my household.
I have evolved from worrying about the less-than-display-home-perfection of my house, to telling myself that most guests are easy about lived-in rooms, mismatched cutlery and leaf-strewn backyards.
Certainly, I know that when I am a guest, I just give my surroundings a cursory glance before turning my attention to my hosts and the hospitality....so I hope others do likewise when they visit us! :-p
No comments:
Post a Comment