Family Fun........

 
As I must have mentioned many times my whole family, from my parents down, try to get together at least once a year and it's always been the nearest to dad's birthday on 27th December when children are still off school and adults are mostly on Christmas holidays from work. My parents have both died now as has my eldest sister and her husband and everyone lives so far apart, so it feels more important than ever to meet up when we can. Along with almost everyone else in the world there's been the two year pandemic restrictions so for us it hasn't happened. Sunday I'd arranged our get together so we could all be in the garden as I'm still not to comfortable with crowding in the house. 

If everyone came there could be 30+, however, there were some that couldn't make it right from the start and there were others that had to cancel last minute, including Daughter's family as all four of them have bad head colds and don't want to pass on germs. Hubby also now has a cold but says he doesn't feel too bad, so he'll just have to keep his distance from everyone (we've both tested negative to make sure).

In the end there were just 11 of us and even they had problems getting here with road closures and diversions on the A12. The weather was really kind and when it got a little chilly I'd left out a basket full of blankets. 

Everyone brought food as if they were catering for the normal crowd and even though Daughter couldn't come she did make the big salads she had promised so everyone ate well and had Goody bags to take home. 

There was a good game of hunt the pin that bilK dropped, they never found it even though we'd brought out a magnet, a torch and K had downloaded a metal detector app on his phone (hahaha there's an app for everything).

This is SisterS playing hide and seek with her grandchildren. 

Didn't get any photos of Son who came early and was really helpful all day as he was the one taking these few photos. Didn't get any photos of the two adorable children who were disappointed the other young cousins hadn't come but managed to stay amused and happy by enlisting parents grandparents and any other adult they could convince to play with them. 

It was a lovely day. 

Not wanting to waste food I made fishcakes from all the tinned tuna that was open and added the leftover jacket potatoes I'd de-skinned then just added onion, egg and matzo meal to bind. Some for dinner and some in the freezer. This is the pre-baked photo as I forgot to take a photo after. 

Daughter, R and O have been over for showers while they wait for their landlord to sort theirs so they've helped finish up the leftover cakes. 

From Friday to Monday Daughter and O are back in 1601 at Kentwell Hall, and R and the dog are staying with us. 

Old photo of course as O is taller than Daughter now. 

I'm hoping next week there will be a finished blanket to show you now I'm slowly crocheting the border...... watch this space 😉
Enjoy your week.

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