a busy day

So I got up dark and early (it was overcast and a sweet, fresh drizzly rain was blessing us), and finished setting the table.

We had roses,

and strawberries.

Juicy ripe grapes,

And velvety sweet apricots.

I made curried chicken salad sandwiches. Tamara made cucumber sandwiches, her world-class biscotti, and some divine rhubarb cake. The tea was Murchies' Golden Jubilee blend.

Here's the table all dressed and waiting.

And here are all the happy actual guests, knitting and nibbling and talking and laughing. I introduced them to all my virtual guests as well, and they greeted you joyfully. It was a lovely, lovely party!

And then, come evening, DH and I went to his company's awards banquet. DH has been there for 20 years now, and got called up front for a handshake and a gift certificate. ($500 pre-paid VISA card. {Omigawd, omigawd!} But we do have to pay income tax on it.)

There are about 18 people who have been there 20 years. There were 13 guys who had been with the company for FOURTY YEARS! Seven of them will be retiring this year and all of them, "...enjoy fishing, ..." Some also enjoy hunting, others also enjoy golf, and a few also do woodwork. So the key to longevity in your job is to be a guy who enjoys fishing.

Employees got to attend the banquet for free. If spouses wanted to come, there was a ten dollar fee for the meal. They overcharged. OK, to be fair, the salad was wonderful! Nice crisp fresh greens, with grapes and strawberries and a wild variety of edible flowers. Pansies are yummy!

But the entrees - DH's steak resembled a chunk of broiled wet-suit. And my salmon had clearly been frozen and thawed repeatedly. No matter how you cook salmon, it should never be mushy. The asparagus was nice, with a pretty sash of carrot strip bundling the five stalks together. I passed on the fried cheese and potato thingy and I passed on the desert which was a cake and pastry-cream confection with berry preserves. (I'm lactose intolerant) Really, now that I think of it, everything but the entree was quite nice and well presented. Just because I couldn't eat some of it, and wouldn't eat the mushy salmon (Yuk, yuk, yuk!!) doesn't mean it was a crappy meal.

And we had a great time. We sat with the couple who will be taking a cruise with us in December- Igor and Yanna. Igor just got back from visiting his family in the Ukraine, so we had lots and lots to talk about. It was a grand evening.

Between the knitting tea and the award's banquet, I pretty much blew my diet. But it was WORTH IT! It was such a lovely day.