There is not much point in doing any dusting and tidying up before a party is there. It’s bound to get messy when the guests arrive. I look around and remember the sharp eyed Anitha finding cobwebs during her visits and so thought I should at least do some superficial tidying up. A quick once over with the duster and I can join Lakshmi and her grandparents when they take her out today. Or that was what I thought, but then I saw the state of the garden. I realise that I should stay back and do some work. Gwynn helped to cut the grass and I cleaned the garden pond. One of the muckiest jobs I end up doing each year. At least there are no frogs in it this year. Otherwise I shouldn’t really be doing it.
Lakshmi’s great grandparents are coming today with Louise’s sister and family. They bring Alfie with them soon after lunchtime. It’s the first time that Alfie is coming to visit. They bring Lakshmi a scooter and she has a good time with her dad’s young cousins, Joshua and Ciaran. They leave around four. Lakshmi seems very tired but as soon as they leave. She leaps up and goes ‘scooter, scooter’ and wants me to push her around.
In the evening we are meeting at our nearby pub for dinner. When I get there with Lakshmi they are all waiting for us. Tony, Lakshmi’s great granddad, can’t seem to get over how skimpily clad the local girls are. We have a laugh wondering how he would have behaved if he were a youngster today. The conversation gets even naughtier and Lakshmi gives us a quizzical look. Murali joins us and soon we say our goodbyes and drive back home.
It’s little Lavinia’s ‘charadu kettu’ tomorrow afternoon and they’ve all come down for the function. It’s a repeat of what happened two years ago when Lakshmi’s function fell on the same bank holiday May Monday. Only close family and friends have been Invited as she is still tiny and not quite out of the woods yet. We have a very busy day ahead and need to get some rest before Lavinia’s big day.
