Day 1136 Food mountain

19th September 2020

Out early to buy fruit for the party, then came the cancellations, this does bother us because we gave everybody plenty of time to plan, and Kelli did a good job sending out reminders, and still we get let down. Yet again we cater for numbers and food does cost money wherever you live.

That put me in the mood to cut the grass in the front garden, so out came the hand mower.

God I hate that thing, I cursed it with every push, the grass was cut with pure hatred, and I’m surprised that it wasn’t scorched. The grass is shitty at the front which make cutting it a drag, I cannot take any pride in it, there was better grass at the Somme.

I then had to drive to Saugatuck to collect food that we had ordered from The Farmhouse Deli.

It is a popular place, which is why there is always a queue outside, but no sense of order, the queue is just people mingling, more a protest than anything orderly.

I took my place hoping to get the attention of the girl who appeared at times to take orders.

Eventually I managed it, and was allowed inside to collect the boxes and of course pay for it.

There was a ton of potato salad, pasta salad, three containers of Macaroni cheese and a load of cup cakes, then it was a careful drive back.

We arranged the seating and tables and Kelli continued to cook and prepare things.

As the magic hour struck people started to arrive.

The weather was warm to start with, but everyone was prepared for when it got colder later.

Kelli brought out the food, looking stunning in her flowing top, she wore a tiara of flowers on her head, she looked every bit a hippy princess.

I expected a stampede towards the table, but people were more protective of the drinks they had brought with them, and less about the spread laid out before them.

That is one thing I’ve noticed here, when guest bring bottles to a party, they make sure they take home what is left, weird!

I decide to lead by example, I filled my plate with everything I could stack, and also cup brimming with wine.

Slowly people took the hint, but soon it was obvious that we had made far more food than we needed. The most popular was the Mac and cheese which is the best I’ve tasted.

I had made the fatal error of choosing to buy boxes of wine instead of bottles. This was in case some of the guests had forgotten to bring anything or were too tight. It soon became obvious that they would rather die of thirst than to drink from a box. Fortunately there were a couple of guests that were so desperate that they were prepared to drink anything.

We had good music, our tandem bike for people to have pictures taken and a fire pit for later.

I had laced the wood with some mineral spirit making sure that it lit with one match.

Everyone was impressed that one strike produced a five foot flame. I did remember the possibility of instant ignition and jumped back. Therefore my reputation and my eyebrows were left intact.

Everyone had a good time, and I even got someone to give me a quote for reseeding the lawns, what a result.

I was amaze at how many people knew each other, it meant that the conversation were easy, and I didn’t have to get round and introduce everyone to everyone.

There were the hard liners who stayed to the very end, hovering around the glowing embers of the fire, that was around ten, pretty early by most people’s standards, but this is Michigan.

I set about dismantling the sound system, not exactly Glastonbury, but it pumped out some good tunes thanks to Kelli’s wedding playlist.

I’m sure the neighbourhood was rocking to the likes of Chuck Berry and the Beatles.

We did find a jacket that someone left hanging over a chair, now we have the job of finding the owner.