A hen party extraordinaire.
I spent most of my day preparing and baking, and waited excitedly for my girlfriends to arrive at the 4.30pm appointed time.
It's always good to have all my girlfriends that live on the island together in one place...my home for an evening of sisterhood bonding.
A month in advance an invitation is sent out with a reminder to gather 5 items to contribute to the swap. This can be anything that is no longer needed, wasn't needed in the first place, or just sharing garden bounty, whether plants or fruits and vegetables.
I always put the extra tables out early for the swap items since some of my friends like to deliver their items early before the evening's event.
This year my theme colours were pink and white for the decor.
Tea Party Buffet Table
Left to Right: Various Cheeses with cherries, Raisin Cookies, Potato Balls, Pumpkin/Corned Beef fritters, Carrot Ginger sandwiches, Heart Marshmallows, Pizza Bakes, Veggie Roll ups, Chocolate Rum Balls, Cheese Sandwiches.
On the stands Top to Bottom: Lemon Tartlets, Miniature Rock Cakes, Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcakes
I had prepared a feast of goodies, but then my "girls" showed up with even more goodies...the table was full to capacity and some goodies spilled over to the counter top as well.
Goodies like Peach upside-down cake, chocolate swirl cake, various flavours of danishes, coconut creme pie, fruit salad and black fruit cake.
Juices of every flavour including mango pomegranate
What a lovely evening filled with riotous laughter and great camaraderie, since quite a few of the girls are natural comediennes.
No topic was taboo, and we voiced our opinions on a number of headlining topics here on the island and trending worldwide.....it's always good to hear how others feel about a topic.
My bounty from the swap
Another lovely tea party/swap evening.....I am truly thankful for my girlfriends....they all contribute something of substance to my life.....thank you ladies for being my friend.I love having my girls over, we always have sooooo much fun.
Good idea with the swap. Glad you had a good time!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how a simple idea of sharing stuff that is no longer needed has become an event that is looked forward to every year....we did have a good time.
DeleteThis sounds like fun!! My daughter and her friends all share prom/formal dresses but I like the idea of having a party. The food looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteThe party around the sharing part of the swap adds a lot of character to the event because the treats are always tasty and "moreish."
Delete*Moreish= can eat a whole lot more.
Hi Virginia. I thought it was about time I dropped by again. Now you have made me feel hungry.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your visits to my blog, I always look forward to your comments. John.
I enjoy your writings John...I really do. I'm so happy that you and Mia are creating a stronger bond as the days go by.....a friendship that will last a lonnnngggg time.
DeleteThanks for dropping by.
Oh gosh that looks delicious and I love your butterfly centrepiece. Lovely idea to have a swap as well.
ReplyDeleteIt was a nice evening.. and the food was very tasty.
DeleteLook out for my follow-up post on the butterfly centrepiece.
There used to be a group of 12 of us on the Island who gathered together for dinner at each others houses each month and it was the same sort of evening with good craic (good Scottish word for what you girls did) but gradually as people have left the Island the tradition has ceased and whilst many of us still see each other the mass gatherings are a thing of the past. Your traditional gathering is something to be treasured (and, if I'm honest, a little envied).
ReplyDeleteA gathering of friends is something to be treasured....I think you may still be able to salvage a good craic with your remaining friends on the island....they may just be waiting for someone like you to take the bull by the horns and get things going again.
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