A surprising weekend

Once I’d got over the shock of seeing four of our friends standing outside the front of our house, my mind started going into overdrive - have they eaten, what can we have for lunch, let’s go out for dinner, are the rooms ready? But then there came lots of “Jo it’s all under control”, “You don’t need to do anything”, “We have it all, go and sit down”, and the one that got me most, “Stay out of the kitchen”. Yikes, what was that, ‘Stay out of my kitchen’?

I think they all knew that would be a difficult one for me, but gradually, as the weekend unfurled I became more of a willing passenger.

They did have everything under control, and it made for a fabulous few days together.

Brian had organised a whole weekend full of activities, a Champagne tour and tasting at Gremillet, picnic and boule in Essoyes, a tasting and vineyard walk in Celles-sur-Ource, and a fun but revealing game of ‘Would I lie to you?’

He had also booked a couple of dinners out, and organised with Sam and Sara to make a couple of home cooked meals. Sara’s was a 1920’s themed evening party meal, which was spectacular. I’d been given a spa set to luxuriate in the bath whilst they set the room up and prepared the meal. I’d also been given the accessories to transform a simple black evening dress I had into a 1920’s, very elegant, outfit.

For their meal Sam and Alan gave us a deliciously comforting fish pie and a marvellous sticky toffee pudding on Sunday evening. Just what we needed after a real weekend of excitement. All washed down with rather a lot of Champagne.