Mum's Christmas Party

I've been to a marvellous party.... I couldn't have liked it more. (You'll have to see Noel Coward for the rest of the lyrics)

Mum threw a party on Christmas Eve and it was quite the event. It's definitely the biggest party the house has seen since Dad died (Christmas 2010), before which Mum and Dad were the legendary party throwers of the village.

 

It may, indeed, be the biggest houseful the place has had since the heyday of their Hogmanays, which were my introduction into party throwing, and a benchmark which I've tried to reach ever since. The Sutherland Hogmanay admitted no guests until midnight, the first of whom had to bring a lump of coal and a bottle of whisky, after which everyone else rolled up and the house would accommodate up to 80 people, and the party would go on till 6 or 7 in the morning. (I learned this week that they would mostly be coming directly from the Golf Club's Christmas do, which would turn them out at midnight, so my first experience of a grown up party was in fact an After Party).

This Christmas Eve party, by contrast, was an afternoon event, arranged to accommodate our guests and Mum's. And in practice hers far exceeded ours, we being only able to lay claim to three people and a baby (Remy & Liz brought 7 week old Isaac, while Alan was the only member of the Seaman clan able to make it over). The party was originally our idea, but Mum embraced it and made it her own, inviting friends and neighbours galore. It really was a treat to be part of.

Jude, Doug and the kids arrived as the party was in mid swing, and it was perfectly times to wind down in time for tea and for us settling into a Christmas Eve night with the family. And beyond that there's really not much to report, other than I'm so pleased my childhood home's officially a party house again, and that I hope this'll be repeated in the not too distant future. (More photos to be found on Facebook).