This Functional Family

Ah, time moves on all too quickly. They're on their way home again now; no sparkling frost to ponder this morning, just dreary drizzle, a very quiet house and a load of empty champagne bottles stacked up in the corner.

Yesterday was wonderful - a trot around town (including a spectacular lunch at Gascoyne Place - thank you so much, Marty!) and some shopping. In the evening, we sat around my kitchen table for the second night running, eating and drinking and generally making merry (or, in the case of my sister and I, making childish mischief). I decorated the table with tealights and battery powered glowing things, and we ate canapes of rye bread, cream cheese and smoked salmon, and blinis with dill-marinated herring. Salmon en croute followed, and chocolate brownies should have followed that, but by that stage, my hostess batteries were severely running down and I forgot all about them, so Mike and his brother ended up munching them straight from their crumpled foil wrapper (did they taste good, boys?).

At one point, I accidentally set my hand on fire (honestly, I did! I have the blisters to prove it). My dad talked about his ex-lovers (women who, by the way, were current lovers while he was married to my mum). My sister impersonated Debbie Harry, and encouraged me to impersonate Adam Ant. My mum - all pink and giggly and very, very funny - looked at old pictures of herself and loved us all, in her own special way. Stephen joined us and made extremely crude jokes and references at every turn. The other Steve arrived in his action man outfit. Mike drank spiced rum with ginger beer and exercised a great deal of patience. We listened to Kenny Rogers, Bananarama and Phil Spector's Christmas album, and later on we had a YouTube party, and relived yet more memories. Memories? The day was full of them, both recycled and freshly created. Which led me to thinking ...

My family are pretty much all scattered about these days. Mum and dad divorced years ago, and mum remarried the day before my sister embarked on her route to long-standing wedded bliss. It's a long story - not always a good one - but seeing as someone's got to tell it, I do, frequently. But last night - well, how many families do you know can sit around a table being absolutely ridiculous until well into the wee small hours, with no blips on the emotional horizon whatsoever and a great deal of joy to feast on? That was us, last night - the original Blease family, plus two newish and very welcome additions (Mike and his brother Steve).

I'll spend the afternoon with the Observer Food Monthly, chicken pie and mashed potatoes (Mike's at football as I write - he'll need such sustenance) and later, in the bath. After that, Status Quo in Portsmouth, with a visit to a new baby on the way, in Winchester. Live the dream? Sometimes, I feel as though that's exactly what I do.

Have a super Sunday, wherever you are. And if you're in the mood for an uplifting tune, go here, download a track called 'Do You Realize?" and let me know how it makes you feel.

Later, animals! x