Life is a bouncy castle
Anna, Brian and I drove off to a nearby church hall this morning to set up for Klaudia's birthday party. The hall was a good old fashioned one, and for a minute I jumped up and stood centre stage, and remembered how much I like it there.
Busyness followed. There were tables and chairs to set up, toys to be strewn about the place, balloons to hang and a bouncy castle to be inflated. Then the next couple of hours blurred by with a couple of dozen kids, (they are hard to count as they dart about in a kind of Brownian motion) and parents. Enjoyed seeing the kids bouncing around in the castle, and taking lots of photos and chatting with the mums and dads, many of whom I now know thanks to Anna and Anton. They are, by and large, a really pleasant bunch of people.
But it all went wrong for a bit as a duff batch of balloons began to spontaneously burst. This absolutely traumatised Klaudia to the point where she burst into tears and screamed in horror if taken back into the hall for any time. A bit later Anton handed me a still-recovering Klaudia, and as she cuddled onto me I felt quite proud to think that I am one of the people who make her feel safe.
Then back home with Anton, while Brian and Anna did more packing up, where I spooned various mushes into Oskar which was also good fun.
Then back down the hill to collect two Japanese prints I had framed, and I am very pleased with them. Also found time, among all the pottering about, to message the lovely Sarah in Florida.
In the evening was tempted back to Anton's place to gorge on Anton's exemplary gourmet home-made pizzas, and generally have a laugh and a gossipathon with Anna, Anton and Brian. Later I sloped off with Brian and Anton to the Eddy for a cheeky late beer (welcomed with a cheery "hello gorgeous" from the barman - who later rumpled Brian's hair somewhat) and after some time we went our separate ways, and I lurched home gratefully to bed thinking that it had been a really nice day.
Anna, Brian and I drove off to a nearby church hall this morning to set up for Klaudia's birthday party. The hall was a good old fashioned one, and for a minute I jumped up and stood centre stage, and remembered how much I like it there.
Busyness followed. There were tables and chairs to set up, toys to be strewn about the place, balloons to hang and a bouncy castle to be inflated. Then the next couple of hours blurred by with a couple of dozen kids, (they are hard to count as they dart about in a kind of Brownian motion) and parents. Enjoyed seeing the kids bouncing around in the castle, and taking lots of photos and chatting with the mums and dads, many of whom I now know thanks to Anna and Anton. They are, by and large, a really pleasant bunch of people.
But it all went wrong for a bit as a duff batch of balloons began to spontaneously burst. This absolutely traumatised Klaudia to the point where she burst into tears and screamed in horror if taken back into the hall for any time. A bit later Anton handed me a still-recovering Klaudia, and as she cuddled onto me I felt quite proud to think that I am one of the people who make her feel safe.
Then back home with Anton, while Brian and Anna did more packing up, where I spooned various mushes into Oskar which was also good fun.
Then back down the hill to collect two Japanese prints I had framed, and I am very pleased with them. Also found time, among all the pottering about, to message the lovely Sarah in Florida.
In the evening was tempted back to Anton's place to gorge on Anton's exemplary gourmet home-made pizzas, and generally have a laugh and a gossipathon with Anna, Anton and Brian. Later I sloped off with Brian and Anton to the Eddy for a cheeky late beer (welcomed with a cheery "hello gorgeous" from the barman - who later rumpled Brian's hair somewhat) and after some time we went our separate ways, and I lurched home gratefully to bed thinking that it had been a really nice day.
Below: a leap on the bouncy castle, many kids (Klaudia far left), Klaudia, Oskar.
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