We have a BBQ 🍖

Slowly getting back to normal and weather finally realising that it’s summer, we invited friends over for a fish barbecue. I needed to keep it simple and ensure that the table setting was conducive to social distancing!

I remain wary and over cautious. I see neighbours having friends from mixed families inside their houses and still get really annoyed when they blatantly flout the rules! We need to get this damn virus under control and it’s not only youngsters who selfishly disobey the law! It’s also adults who should have more sense!

As always, the weather rules these barbecues! I have three apps and they were regularly checked throughout the day and this became more frequent as the afternoon progressed! I did have a choice, either the patio without any overhead protection, or the Teak House, the thatched gazebo at the bottom of our garden. The latter is not as practical because we have to cross the lawn and get wet!

But on Friday afternoon the weather behaved and I laid the patio table. I prepared the salad ingredients and decided to use a new potato recipe I had seen on the television a few days earlier. I had written down the ingredients but not the quantities so that was going to be a challenge! I tried finding the recipe on Google but couldn’t manage this simple task so had to use my sensitive(?) palate instead!

I have a problem with timing. For years working as a Treasurer for a busy multi national company I had a system and a tick box for month ends. This had been honed over many years and was my comfort blanket to ensure nothing was missed. Now that I am a ‘lady of leisure’ and a ‘housewife’ I have no routine for housework or general chores and muddle my way through them. I’m obviously not too bothered so do them only when and if necessary. If I didn’t struggle with chaos it would probably be a lot worse!

Our guests were due to arrive at 6:30 pm. I had the afternoon to prepare and there wasn’t a huge amount I had to do. For dessert we were having strawberries soaked in a Cassis liqueur (my husband’s favourite recipe) and just meant him pouring copious amounts of liquid into the bowl and giving the strawberries an occasional stir! The fish was ready just to put on the barbecue. So why was I rushing around at 6:15 pm in my ‘glad rags’, salad ingredients still draining, potatoes overcooked and the cheese still buried somewhere in the fridge.

But, thankfully, they were late and all was ready when their car pulled into the drive. My husband met them at the garden gate. The weather, uncharacteristically, behaved really well. We had a super evening and almost five hours later we waved them goodbye. My husband, also uncharacteristically, offered to tidy up. So, dishwasher packed and turned on, I soaked in a hot bath and went to bed.

I really enjoyed that feeling of normality. I also thoroughly enjoyed catching up with our dear friends and having a good laugh. That is what life should be more about! Not the doom and gloom, panic and fear that has been my almost constant companion for the last five months!

I’ve tasted freedom and hope to sample it again soon ……👠