Wednesday 24 April 2019

The Weekend Before Last

On Saturday, April 13, O.K. and I went shopping by car (a rarity for me) and brought back many bottles of various drinks (alcoholic and soft), fruit, cheese, vegetables and bread. O.K. then brought up the extra chairs from the cellar and cleaned them while I was busy in the kitchen. Garlands were hung, glasses placed in the kitchen and the buffet prepared - it was time to celebrate my birthday once more, this time with family and friends at home.




The buffet saw several contributions from my guests (thank you!). Everything was delicious, and although not everybody who was invited could make it, much fun was had by all (I hope) and the party lasted until 2:00 am.

The chilly weather was not welcome to all, but I was actually glad of it; it made keeping drinks cool so much easier as would have otherwise been possible with only one small fridge in my kitchen.

Sunday started out still grey and cold, but turned nicer as the day went on. Late afternoon, the sun came out, and O.K. and I decided to use our season's tickets (a generous gift from my Mum) for the palace grounds for the first time this season.








One part of the park was given over to Easter themed decorations made of plastic eggs on egg-shaped wire stands, straw and wooden sculptures and flower arrangements like the yellow duck. I must say I wasn't overly fond of the plastic eggs although I liked their pastel colours; the straw and wood is something I see more fit in a country environment than in the palace grounds, but that is just my personal taste.



Anyway, we were glad we had come out and enjoyed the lovely evening light and the flowers. It became rather chilly again once the sun disappeared in the west, and it was time for a small meal before O.K. was going to undertake the long drive home.

This was the last of my birthday celebrations for this year! I wonder how many I will have next year :-)

24 comments:

  1. What lovely celebrations! Belated Happy birthday.

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    1. Thank you, L - I am now more than a month older already since my real birthday, but I spaced the celebrations out quite nicely :-)

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  2. Your second birthday celebration looks like lots of fun! Good company, good food! And I loved seeing the photos of the Palace grounds with so many spring flowers all about and trees in bloom. I wish the weather would warm up a bit more for you!

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    1. Thank you, Kristi! Well, don't worry about warm weather - after that cold weekend, it warmed up rapidly and reached summerly temperatures over the Easter weekend. We had 27C on the Sunday, that is as warm as it sometimes gets on an average July or August day!

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  3. Beautiful gardens. Those colours really glow. Your party buffet looked pretty good too!

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    1. It was all rather nice, JayCee - flowers, food, drinks, presents and of course my family and friends!

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  4. Another party - you lucky lady! Bet it was fun with family and friends in attendance.

    I take it that this is the beautiful Ludwigsburg Palace and Blooming Barqoque Gardens, right?
    Amazed that you were able to get such great photos with no people - where were all the visitors?
    Glad you had such a great time.

    Mary -

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    1. I truly am one lucky lady, Mary, and I know it!

      Yes, it is the Baroque in Bloom gardens around Ludwigsburg Palace, "our" park where I've been spending time ever since I was born (and most likely before that, too!).
      There really weren't many people about that Sunday, as it had been so unhospitable all day and was already rather late by the time the sun came out, shortly before closing time.

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  5. As always, I love your photos from YOUR palace! And the good at your party looks great! Oh Meike, today would have been my Dad's 92nd birthday. He loved when I told him about the photos on your blog.It truly pleased him. So, thank you for talking me into my blog, it made me realize how close I felt to my father and I shared that with my writing. I think. x

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    1. Thank you, dear Kay!
      It must be extra poignant on days like this that your Dad is not there anymore. Yes, your post about your Dad clearly conveyed how close you two were. Not everybody is as lucky as we are when it comes to our Dads; all the more can we "share" them through our writing.

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  6. Ha, meant to type FOOD at your party but I am sure you must have had goodness there too. 😀

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    1. I understood what you meant, and yes, there was plenty of goodness, too! :-)

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  7. I do love your birthday celebrations. My partner organised a great surprise on my 50th, dear friends organised an exceptionally memorable 60th (which is still talked about). Those are about the only birthday celebrations that I can recall. Generally speaking I ignore my birthday.

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    1. Although it was not organised as a surprise party, on my 50th birthday last year I did have a great surprise when O.K. suddenly appeared (he was not supposed to arrive until the weekend), and this year, my sister had organised the fantastic surprise visit at Markenfield Hall.
      Ignoring my birthday never occurs to me! I love parties too much :-)

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    2. That's where we are quite different, Meike. I do not enjoy parties. I'm basically very shy when I'm not in a professional situation (when I'm not 'me' but 'the person in the suit').

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    3. I never say no to a party - whether it is my own or someone else's, it is just something I enjoy, and shyness is something I have very rarely felt in my life.

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  8. Beautiful pictures.
    Nice to meet your blog.
    janicce.

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    1. Hello janicce! Thank you, and welcome to my blog!
      I'll pop over to have a look at yours in a minute.

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  9. Like Mr Edwards above I am not fond of parties but each to their own. During my working life I never told any colleagues about my birthdays and so they passed by without acknowledgement. I preferred it that way but in contrast you really embrace birthday celebrations. What a thoughtful gift from your mother!

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    1. As you say, each to their own. At work, my birthdays largely go by without anything happening, too; part of it might be because I often am not there on my birthdays, but have the day or even the entire week off.
      Yes, my Mum knows exactly what makes me happy!

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  10. Everything is so beautiful! I'm glad you still had your annual birthday bash when you got back home. Good for you for partying until 2am....I'd have been nodding off and snoring in front of my guests! Ha! :)

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    1. I bet you would not have been nodding off, Jennifer - when there are people about and you talk and laugh, you don't feel tired until after they have left :-)

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  11. Happy birthday (again!) What lovely flowerbeds in the palace. I'm not that keen on plastic either, but it is all a bit of fun and probably mainly for the children, I'd guess. I'm glad the party went so well, too.

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    1. Thank you, Jenny! Yes, that part of the palace grounds is very popular with families with small children, there is always something going on, and food and drinks can be bought at various stalls to be consumed outdoors.

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