Washing up blues...

It seems like I have been washing up for days on end!

It started with my family Christmas celebration on 4th December and has just finished today. I think I must have washed up every single knife, fork, spoon, glass, bowl, plate & saucepan in my house at least 6 times in the last month... I mean EVERY one of them, not just the ones you use for day to day meals, but every one!

We had turkey, ham, kofta, souvlaki, haloumi, tabouli & a table groaning with delicious salads & breads, pudding, gingerbread, keylime pie & brownies, a Christmas Eve BBQ of 5 ( or maybe more) different kinds of sausage with marmalade onions ( recipe to follow) & mangoes for dessert, another feast under the trees of turkey, ham, pork, souvlaki & salads  with trifle & pudding, a night of pizza with relatives from down south & an impromptu BBQ of the best tandoori chicken & more kinds sausages than I could count, with cider & fruit & coffee & chocolates to finish!

There were lanterns, white linen table cloths ( nicely ironed), the best glasses, hydrangeas ( stolen & home-grown), secret santa, crackers, flaming puddings, wind-up toy races, we wore mulberry leaf hats,the boys fired the BBQ, the girls fought over the newest addition to the family ( Alexander Lucas born 20.11.2011), the children played & ate chocolate coins.

There were oumas, grannys, nonnas & pas, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers (the kind you grew up with & the kind you marry in to) gruncles, graunties, uncles, aunties, nieces, nephews, cousins (first & once removed), grandsons,granddaughters, friends, cats, chickens & a broody duck.

We set tables ( and unset tables due to weather), squashed 30 people into a small space as if it was all planned that way, we cooked, we kissed, we ate, we gossiped, we praised, we boasted, we hugged, we ate chocolate, we made memories in our minds ( because no-one took photos), we jumped on the trampoline, we warded of mosquitoes with coils & chemicals, we feasted at every possible moment, we marvelled at how grown up everyone was getting.

We loved one another and promised that this year we would be better at keeping in touch.

AND WE WASHED UP...
and it was good.