60th Birthday Party

I haven’t blogged for over a week because after we got back from our Silver Wedding trip away I crashed as a result of having overdone things – not just going away, but getting all my projects done in time, and pushing myself when I really should have been resting. This week I’ve had a good rest, and by the time yesterday arrived, I was at last feeling a lot better.

We were invited to the surprise 60th birthday party of one of my hubby’s oldest friends yesterday – they were at school together. His wife had arranged it all in secret, and then announced they were going out to lunch with some friends – he immediately asked her if they ought to take a present and couldn’t understand why she said no!

It was a lunch party, held in a beautiful hotel in the heart of Dartmoor near Two Bridges. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t that great so I wasn’t able to get any decent moorland photos – my hubby promised to take me up there again on a nicer day.

Here we are just after our arrival, when we were served with a glass of champagne.

Here is our friend’s son welcoming us.

Party guests enjoying their pre-lunch champagne:

The boys:

I went into the dining room ahead of the others so I could get settled and not be in everyone’s way, which was great because I could see it all properly!

In the corner, there was this delightful little antique toy merry-go-round:

and in another corner, a flower arrangement:

Here’s everyone enjoying the excellent meal we were served.

We had a three-course meal, with a choice of starters. I had the smoked salmon. As you can see, it was all beautifully presented.

The main course was roast lamb served with roasted vegetables.

These are the two desserts on offer – I had the passion fruit one, and my hubby had the chocolate torte. Totally mouthwateringly delicious!!

This is the Birthday Boy's wife. She is from Albania.

I felt like the paparazzi taking this, because I used my zoom lens and she had no idea I was photographing her!!

When we were having our coffee, an old friend stood up and said a few words about the Birthday Boy.

Then the cake arrived. What? Only one candle?!!

(Pity the flowers got in the way!) When my hubby had his 40th birthday, I put 40 candles on the cake, and when I carried it through, was nearly knocked out by the heat they gave off – and then someone held up a fire extinguisher in case he needed it to help him blow them all out! So perhaps 60 candles might have been a bit much…

Here’s the Birthday Boy enjoying his cake.

The Birthday Boy was originally sitting beside me, and this is his place card (they were all made by his wife):

She had stuck little embellishments on all the place cards – mine had a ladybird. When we were having coffee, the man then sitting next to me showed his small son this place card, and asked him what he thought the Birthday Boy might enjoy, and he said “Cake”! (He thought the trowel was a cake slice!) I roared with laughter and said, “Yes, he likes cake in SPADES!”

The kids all set at a separate table with large jugs of juice instead of wine, and they seemed to be having great fun. At the end of lunch they all went outside and ran around in the grounds.

Here’s the Birthday Boy’s brother chatting with the lady who made the speech.

Here are a couple of photos of the views from the windows:

It’s such a shame it was so dull and overcast, because the views of the moors are stunning.

It’s the foaling season for the Dartmoor ponies, and we were delighted by this little fellow on our way home.

It was such a great day out – the lunch was extremely leisurely, allowing lots of time for conversation and relaxation, and a couple of times during the meal, people moved round so they could chat with different people. A beautiful setting, and great to see our friend enjoying such a nice birthday party!