Wednesday 16th August 2023

Alarm at 0745...got up to make mum her birthday breakfast...smoked salmon and cream cheese pancake. She didn't seem very impressed with the Mondrian themed presents. I'm sure they'll come into their own when she next visits the Laing. Kath turned up to set table and blow up some balloons...she'd bought a giant balloon on a stick with Happy Birthday Margaret written on it, which lit up and flashed. Watched the England gals beat Australia to reach the World Cup Final...there were a couple of cracking goals, that Bobby Charlton would have been proud of! 

We prepared the dishes for lunch. Jim and Emma turned up, and finally Stewart arrived, and we ate out on the patio. Dad delivered his song, then the cake was brought out, complete with flaming candles...at this juncture, Keira and her two kids showed up...Keira turned out to be Emma's daughter. Her kids ran amok in the garden and about the house, Cillian becoming very overcome when his Happy Birthday balloon floated off into the blue yonder. Keira helped with the washing up, and then departed with said children, allowing peace to descend. Jim and I drove down to Darras Hall to pick up the Indian takeaway...very friendly staff in there. We got it all back to High View and plonked the various dishes in their takeaway tubs on the dining table for people to help themselves. It was surprisingly good, though a little over reliant on cream as the sauce base, even in the dal! There was a bit of dancing to some C&W tracks after dinner...everybody joining in...groovy!