Monday 4 June 2012

Jubilata


Our elderly garden table collapsed so we decided to get a new one as all the family were coming to a barbecue.

Contrary to our usual way of doing things we conducted extensive research (went to at least two shops) before winding up at B and Q. It duly arrived - in bits.











I tried to help by passing the bolts but as my hand is still not quite under my control I kept dropping them and was sent indoors to make the tea

Smudge was not much help - after making a good start by tearing at the packaging with tooth and claw he resumed his narcistic (the spell check offers no help with that word) gazing into the pond.


He has taken to doing this and we are not sure whether he has seen a newt or is just obsessed with his undoubted beauty.






Finally the base was finished and the time came to screw it to the table top. In true B and Q fashion three fitted perfectly. But the last one .......









When a new hole was drilled we were finally able to turn it the right way up. And have a cup of (stewed) tea.












We made a rather pathetic effort with a string of bunting and some flags before rent-a-crowd turned up to eat us out of house, home and garden.


I meant to take photos of everyone tucking in but, in true British fashion, the rain came down heavily. This resulted in a rush for the house in which several of the smaller grandchildren were all but trampled underfoot!

Actually we still had a lot of fun and the lack of photos was more likely due to the sudden advent of dry white wine. I've not had alchohol for ages as I've been dieting and food comes way before booze in my calorie priorities.

Spent yesterday getting over it and watching the pageant on TV. BBC coverage was poor, I thought - too many talking heads in the studio and not enough about the boats.

Great effort though - did you see the embroidered banners? Rachel de Thame's planting was wonderful too, and what can you say about HM?  I bet she's shattered today and she still has Madness on her roof to look forward to tonight.


Comments
Patchacha; glad you are enjoying Lynda's free classes. She's a great tutor.
We are lucky, JP. We do have lots of textile stuff in our open studio weeks. I'm just sorry that it doesn't look as though we will get to any more of them.
I'm not sure about the bras either, Heather. If they were decorated it would look good but, as it was, it looked a bit like a convent washing line.

3 comments:

Heather said...

That's a very smart table and worth all the effort. Glad you had a good time with your family inspite of the weather - didn't it rain?! It didn't dampen anyone's spirits in London and the Pageant was a wonderful spectacle. I could have done without a lot of the chat too.
My advice to the Queen and Duke would be to hide at Windsor today and return to London for the service on Tuesday!

liniecat said...

I couldnt have stood for that long, in the cold, wind and rain bless her...not bad for her age! Being ex RAF Im a sucker for the old Royals.......tho one or two of the younger ones could do with keeping out of the limelight.
May well be that cold on the grand boat thats done for poor Philip mind! And I desperately wanted to wrap Kates neck with a scarf way before someone gave her the plaid one!
I loved the War Horse on the roof of the National!

Wabbit said...

I had the very same problem with a patio table once. I just rotated the legs until they all sort of fit. Then with one bolt to put in place, holding it all together somehow and just managing to get the bolt and leg where they needed to be so I could get it started, a stray Alaskan Malamute (VERY furry dog!) came up on the deck and stepped between the table and me, knocking the bolt out of my hand. It promptly fell through the crevice into the dirt below and I had to climb down the hill to find it.

No handy Clive for me in those days. The good thing was that the woman and children who showed up to fetch the Mal home have ended up being some of my very best friends to this day.

I thought that the coverage was awful too. You would think that they'd have told those presenters that people all talking at the same time and laughing at their own jokes is not watchable TV. I did like the old man who was a diver in the RN though.

The coverage of the concert here had too much of the presenter (totally unnecessary IMO) and not enough of the performers. No Annie Lennox for us in the US, but we had Madness doing two very bad tunes.

Poor Prince Philip. I hope he's feeling better. Isn't he still handsome for 90?

Oops, I've typed too much again!