Party planning

It's been another very busy few days. On Saturday a bunch of friends came around for 'drinks and nibblies' and it turned into a lovely sociable dinner. One friend brought a pot of curry, another a huge bowl of beautiful Queensland prawns, someone else provided a 'sweet treat' and yet another a platter of home-made ricotta cheese and sushi rolls - all I had to do was lay out some cheeses and olives and crackers and nuts, cook up a pot of rice and make up a salad. But off course, cleaning the house before hand to make sure it was respectable took a bit of time; and during the evening I was so busy getting plates and cooking the rice and making sure everyone was sufficiently fed and watered that I hardly had a decent conversation with anyone! Lots of little bits of conversations, but not much substantial. That's what happens when you're the host. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

I found I could get 12 people comfortably seated in my kitchen/dining room. B and I brought up the little table which normally sits on my jetty to add to the kitchen table, and I moved some of the bits which normally clutter up this room (small table/trolley, magazine rack, spare dog bed) into the laundry - where most of them have stayed. I like a bit more space in the kitchen.

I used to think it would be great to hold 'salons' of the type I read about in French stories, where the artists and intellectuals of the day would come and hold forth with great ideas and opinions. It would be wonderful to be present with all that energy and knowledge and enthusiasm - but after last Saturday night I realise that if I was to host such such soiree's I'd be too busy attending to the guests to join in properly and I'd only ever hear half an idea. One must have servants to do that sort of thing in style.

Which is why I am glad that this weekend, the occasion of my parent's 50th wedding anniversary and my dad's 80th birthday, the event is to be catered. We shall be cruising on one of the Palm Beach Ferries - the little one, the Myra, for a lunchtime do.

My parents - that is, my mother - won't have to do a thing. They can just enjoy themselves and their friends.