The Birthday

ALL IS REVEALED!!

THE NEW HALL

THE WAY IN

The Great Chamber where the birthday dinner was served

How's that for a ceiling!

It was all very splendid and a great time was had by all. 

Here's the menu

STARTER   

Press of confit duck, parsley and pink shallots, red onion marmalade, raspberry jelly

MAIN COURSE

Rump of spring lamb, thyme and garlic fondant potato, fine green beans wrapped in bacon, cumin crushed carrots

DESSERT

Strawberries and Cream, strawberry and tarragon salad,vanilla cream, mini meringue, strawberry gel

Followed by Joe's speech! He was very good and didn't even need a script.

The two young men who waited at table and did the running around were super-efficient, so much so that we are going to make the hotel aware of it.

Some guests brought presents to the Hall, others delivered them to the house.

and at home I ran out of surfaces for a surprising amount of cards. 

Rosanne took on the role of official photographer so I expect lots of pictures to come my way. She and her hubby left early next morning to fly to Rome so the photographs will come later.  

Major presents were from Joe, a new computer and a remote hard drive, plus the lovely Waterford crystal vases seen above. Oddly enough I had another piece off someone else in an amethyst colour but I haven't got round to photographing everything. Jewellery and perfume were among the gifts from son, Jon, and Rosanne as well as other family members... oh and I mustn't forget the surprise birthday cake - pictured above. 

Friends and family seemed to enjoy themselves, there was lots of laughter and not one silent moment. It simply couldn't have been better. Yes, it was a wonderful day ... I was treated like a queen and enjoyed every minute.

Two day events

It is election time, voting is soon to take place for council members. At the same time we’re asked to vote for a Member of the European Parliament, voting from a list of eleven parties, each with seven candidates, all of different persuasions, some we've never heard of, or indeed their parties. There has been little or no information about any except the main candidates. It should be interesting bearing in mind the general dissatisfaction felt about our top political parties. I have voted already because we have postal votes, a good thing because my mind is cluttered with thoughts about tomorrow’s birthday.

Yes folks, it’s here, well it will be tomorrow. The big day, or rather the BIG birthday will be reported on after the event, with photographs if daughter manages to get some. I can’t believe I have reached this grand age but am enjoying the looks of shock on people’s faces when they hear which birthday it is. Apparently I don’t look much more than seventeen.... yeah and if you believe that, you’ll believe anything. I’m not having a cake ‘cause it would cost too much to decorate with seventeen candles ... anyway, who wants cake when there’s wine to be had? 

Catch y’all later. *raising glass* Cheers!  Or, as they say in Italy 'Buon compleanno'.

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Titbits... and problem of the week

TECHNOLOGY

Technology is wonderful but sometimes I prefer to organise IT instead of the other way around. For example, my calendar. I used the Yahoo calendar for a while but frequent hiccups but a stop to it.

Cloud makes sure everything I put on the calendar goes to all devices, no matter which gadget is used. If I add a date on the computer it goes quickly to the phone and tablet and the same applies whichever gadget I’m using. No sweat! Then Yahoo performed one of its miraculous techno updates and now EVERY time I switch on the phone calendar it wants my password. Not content with that it wants the password every time I click a key, no kidding. It so got on my nerves that I removed every engagement recorded on the Yahoo calendar and moved across to Google. I’m not a fan of all that Google does but it sure is a lot simpler than Yahoo.

picture courtesy of
tdcjbackgate.blogspot.com

PROBLEM OF THE WEEK ... OR MAYBE LONGER

I am in the middle of making plans for the forthcoming birthday bash. Hmm not exactly a bash, more a leisurely meal with family and friends. It will be held in a private room at the New Hall Hotel, my favourite eating place. 

Below is a picture of the New Hall. I don’t have a picture of the actual room so you’ll have to take my word for it that it is elegant. Hopefully one will follow after the event.

The New Hall moat

Preparing the guest list and place names for use on the day is the current task, doing it early to avoid a rush nearer the time. Addressing the invitations wasn’t easy. Those to married couples were fine, but what about those unmarried folk who live with partners? In a lot of cases I don’t even know the surname of the partner; they’ve been an item for so long I didn’t need to know. Example: Mrs Smith living with that nice gent called Tom, or Leonard, the charmer, now residing with an attractive lady known as Betty. Are the friends informed of new partners’ surnames? Apparently there’s no need, until someone wants to invite them to a do.

What are the rules when it comes to addressing envelopes or place names or preparing a seating plan? If (in this case) ladies are known by different names I might not even recognise them on the list! I mean, you can hardly put Liz & Sid on the same chair. It happens that there are two Ann’s, two Judy’s, two Mike’s and two or three John’s coming to my party ... imagine the chaos if I don’t get things right.

          

And then there’s the neighbours. Arthur who? And that lovely couple down the road known only by Christian names ... how do I name them on a seating plan? To get over my predicament I have to go sleuthing, hopefully acquiring information indirectly rather than admit to not knowing the surnames of couples known for fifteen years or more.

          

Modern partnerships sure make things difficult.  

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This and that, and a bit about coffee!

Rosanne and Frank 

My stepdaughter and new Italian/Australian stepson-in-law

Their wedding took place in the middle of the night on 3rd November ... my night, that is. It didn't stop me from being in Australia in spirit since I was awake most of the time, sending email at what I thought were appropriate moments... before the ceremony, naturally. Rosanne started it by sending pictures of the flowers and having her hair done and how she looked when ready to be escorted to the church. 

Joe was over the disappointment of not attending the wedding since he had a lot to contend with health-wise. Unfortunately, again health-wise, it wasn't a good night for him. The next hospital appointment for us is 7 November when we are due to see the Radiologist. I thought it was for a consultation about the proposed procedure but we've been told to allow two hours for the appointment. Hmm that will be either a long talk or a long wait. 

Waste not, want not. Yes, I’m still at it, much to the surprise of Paola, my 39 year old cleaning lady, when she caught sight of me draining an apparently empty bottle of liquid soap into a new one. I’m sure she thought I was quite mad when I explained that it was something I always do. ‘Don’t know how you've got the patience’, she said, but didn’t stop to hear my reply; well, she did have work to do. Considering the nation and the people in it are hard up I’m surprised at the lack of inventive ideas for saving a few pence. After all, a few coppers here and there really mount up. I suppose I got my training the hard way, i.e.  the aftermath of war years and a period of wage freezes in the 70’s.

A week ago we went out for our usual carvery lunch at a pub in Sutton Park. There was a party alongside our table, a celebration of a lady’s 70^th birthday, complete with children and grandchildren. A young girl, I suspect not yet a teenager, made the birthday cake which was displayed with pride. And quite right too, it was a beautiful piece of work. 

Two enormous birthday balloons in glittery gold were attached to their table, one in the shape of a 7 and the other an 0. As they waved wildly I prayed one wouldn’t burst and land on my roast pork. The young children had their iPads to play with so I don’t think they cared about the balloons. Actually, one little lad was playing a game that fascinated me although I tried really hard not to appear interested. I did keep sneaking a peek though to see how he was getting on. I would have loved to take over.

Hands up, who likes Floater Coffee? Yes, so do I. In fact floater coffee has become a must have when my friend Judy and I go out to lunch. She takes her coffee with sugar and I don’t and thereby hangs the problem. One with and one without, we order. ‘Oh no,’ comes the reply, ‘you can’t have floater coffee without sugar.’ Now according to the so-called experts, it is the sugar that makes the cream float. So why is it that it varies from establishment to establishment? Take our recent visit as an example. One with and without was ordered. Again the ‘Oh no’ response came, complete with explanation about the necessity to have sugar to enable cream to float. I gave up and told the waitress to bring it ‘as it comes’. She did. My coffee arrived with sugarless coffee and a sugar lump in the saucer. Judy and I compared coffees ... both had floating cream! Later I looked it up on the Net and found plenty of ideas, including this one 

What if you don’t take sugar? I have worked in a restaurant and I used to make them without sugar all the time. It’s how you pour the cream.

So now I know!

A recent item in a newspaper read like this:

Are disabled people invisible again? In London in 2012 disabled people were suddenly in the spotlight during the Paralympics. But a year on, have they gone back to being invisible?

Of course they’ve gone back to being invisible. That’s not to say we’ve stopped thinking about them or helping where we can. Obviously competing Paralympians were brought to our attention through television, radio, and the printed press and once over they disappear from view, but there are people out there who care about and for those same people. There is room for growth in the community with regard to facilities for the disabled but we haven’t suddenly pushed our disabled friends into the background never to be thought of again. I resent the implication that we don’t care.

Catching up with events....

Apart from the fortnightly visits to the chiropractor, I almost joined the Townswomen’s Guild (otherwise known as TWG) but had to cancel because at long last we were having the real Broadband installed at home. I say real because for four years I had been operating on mobile broadband by way of a DONGLE.

The telephone system proved to be very complicated when we tried to install Broadband twice before. The first time we applied to have it was just after we had our driveway paved and the engineer said he would have to dig it up to install the new system. We turned it down and decided not to bother.

However, we tried for Broadband again at a later date, this time going through AOL with whom we had accounts. Okay, fine! Things were put in place for the installation. The router arrived and a man from the telephone company called to install a box in the porch.  Please don’t ask me what the box was supposed to do.

After that was done we tried getting on line ... and failed. We contacted AOL who said the fault lay with the phone company. The phone company said it was AOLs responsibility. After several weeks of arguing (by phone) we felt disheartened by the whole thing. It seemed there was nothing we could do but demand our money back.

The financial side was sorted and I cancelled my account with AOL. Didn’t need an account anyway since everyone was offering free email. Hotmail, Google, Yahoo, and even AOL.

Then I heard about the newly introduced DONGLE and promptly bought one. My Guy followed suit a short while after, specifically to use on his own laptop. Admittedly the speed for getting on line was not high but it suited us.

And so came the time when my computer bit the dust and I was obliged to buy a new one. Unfortunately the new acquisition only had two USB ports. Don’t manufacturers realise that people like me need about five USB ports to survive? I do, of course, have one of those hub things, well several actually, but one has to remember that it also needs a USB point to operate, and when there are only two there are problems.

By the time I’d connected everything via a hub (including the dongle) I couldn’t connect anything else. By this time we had acquired iPads and needed to log on to iTunes before we could work them. We managed, but only after considerable difficulty on my part because of the lack of USB ports.

So we contacted our own telephone company and asked them to provide to Broadband, knowing that whatever was wrong with our system they would have to put it right. Which they did. We got the new Fibre Optic Broadband, no less. No digging up of driveways, no blaming anyone else for anything.

And to convince us that they were the cats whiskers in providing peace of mind, the phone company also installed CALLER DISPLAY, so that now we don’t need to answer the phone to unwanted callers. I have great satisfaction in ignoring INTERNATIONAL NUMBER UNKOWN.

I did get back on track with the TWG and to date have attended three meetings. I also paid a visit to another WI ... feeling the need to spread myself around. My own institute has got a bit dull lately and there doesn’t seem to be any prospects for livening things up. Added to this there was the Federation’s Annual Council Meeting to attend. That was really enjoyable. The afternoon entertainment came in the form of Two Blokes and a Piano with songs made famous by Flanders and Swann and Richard Stilgo. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture of them or of the women singing their heads off.

Hubby's birthday went off like a birthday should, with nice presents, a call from Australia, and good food. He was also pleased to see all the good wishes on the blog from you lovely people. Thank you so much. Here are a few pictures to give you a flavour of the celebration meal.

Mixed Vegetables

Fillet Steak with peppersauce

Pan fried veal with mushroom sauce

Pinot Grigio

Dessert Menu

The Gavino family knew it was a birthday lunch but they didn't let on until the end of our meal. This was their way of wishing him a Happy Birthday.

Not only did they produce the surprise plate but they sang the usual birthday song accompanied by five people at the next table. The next picture shows a nice touch for the star of the day.

We were also given on the house drinks, the name of which I cannot remember, but I do remember how potent they were. 

The last time we were there was in May, for my birthday treat. I blogged about it at the time and was pleased to be told that the blog had been read by the family. What a lovely family they are. I do so love Italians.

The Birthday Lunch

A view of Gavino's where they serve the finest quality food and the freshest fish, in pleasant surrounds, and excellent value for money. The menu is excellent, see here for mouthwatering dishes.

Gavino started his catering career at the age of 18 with the Italian air force, as part of the ground crew for the famous military acrobatic flying squadron 'Le Frecce Tricolour. After he left the air force in 1973 he travelled to England leaving his home town, Porto Torres in Sardinia, Italy. He later fell in love with his wife Karen. After 36 years of marriage, three children, and a 12 year break in Italy, Gavino came back to Sutton Coldfield to open his new restaurant, Gavino's.

Gavino is an authentic Italian restaurant where the whole family is involved. Meet Gavino and Karen (the owners) Gian-Franco (the director), Bonny (the secretary), Antoni (bar tender with a beautiful voice). Christian (youngest in the family and youngest waiter) and of course Gian Luca Stefanelli, the top Italian chef.

They all make sure the customers' dining experience has a true Italian feeling. They welcome people speaking a bit of Italian and they remind us not to forget to say Ciao, grazie and 'il conto per favore. e fi

I like the way the blue water glass picks up the reflections

Mushrooms, cooked in an unpronounceable way, which was DELICIOUS

Prosciutto and finely sliced melon 

Veal cooked to perfection and served in a mushroom sauce (that's not what THEY called it!). Benessimo!

Steak al pepe was superbly tender 

With shared accompaniments

A brioche based dessert which apparently was delicious, and my favourite tirisamu. As you can see, and this was a great surprise, the tirisamu was served with a lit candle, presented to the tune of 'Happy Birthday' (a recording) and carried by brother and sister (seen below). Other staff watched from the back of the room. This was a total surprise but a very pleasant one. Quite made my day.

Gaelic coffee, as if we hadn't had enough to drink with the bottle of Pino Grigio!

Ameretto biscuits, as if we hadn't eaten enough!

Cappuccino

Italian brother and sister who went out of their way to see that we had a great dining experience...

...and who produced Moscato and Lemoncello to finish off the celebration. Honestly, you would have thought it was a special birthday but I guess they're all special when you get older!

Whilst we were there the men arrived outside to start trimming the village with Jubilee decorations.

Back home, I studied my new Kindle until it was familiar enough for me to start reading books.

What a great day!