Fifty!

Last weekend, we celebrated Mr Squidge's 50th birthday. He wanted a party. A Big Party.

So, we organised one. The caterers (Greens Catering Services) did us proud, with a great selection for a finger buffet. There was loads of food - probably because we catered for the number of people who said they were attending, but of course a few folk always drop out for various reasons so we were sent a few doggy bags home - and we're still eating honey and mustard glazed sausages...!

Just a few sarnies...

Sausages and samosas!

Quiche and cheese and chutney toasts

One of the funniest things about the buffet is that I'd bought loads of crisps, among them, bacon rashers (the Tesco equivalent of Frazzles). People remarked how long it was since they'd had Frazzles, and dived in!

The band was brilliant. (Superfuzz) I struggle a bit with live bands because they often seem too loud, but Superfuzz's set was pretty good. Couldn't fault their performance or the mix of songs. Some of Mr Squidge's uni friends came to the party - first time we'd seen Sparky, Jude and Cairnsy in about twenty years - and as soon as the band started, they got up and boogied! The famous 'Shoulder Shuffle' was in evidence - Mr Squidge's unique dance move. Squidgeling T also did a short set with his band, too - they were really good, considering that they've only ever done one open mic night together before.

And then there was The Cake.  Do you remember these?

These were the froggy cake pops Michelle made for the launch of More Granny Rainbow. Michelle is a talented cake maker, and so I asked if she would take on the challenge of a beer gravity cake for Mr Squidge. She now works in Barnett's, a small coffee shop in town; Chris makes the cakes and often Michelle decorates them. I am gutted to say that, in prepping this blog, I found I did not have a single photo of The Cake that I'd taken, so here's Michelle's photo of it;

How cool is that?! Mr Squidge loved it - and when we finally sliced it on his actual birthday (last Monday) it tasted every bit as good as it looked. Of course, the engineer was trying to work out all the mechanics...but I shan't give Michelle's secrets away!

Mr Squidge took this one as he was wrapping up half the cake to freeze

I didn't take many photos at all - I was too busy topping up the trays of food and boogie-ing, though I believe there is video footage of me and Mr Squidge dancing, thanks to the Squidgelings...

Family presents were opened on Sunday, before Squidgeling J returned to Bristol - we bought him a speedometer T-shirt (stuck at 50mph and with the mileage reading 019680!), some beer, and a hot air balloon ride; other presents and cards were saved 'til Monday, his actual birthday. I treated him to a pub lunch, a bottle of prosecco, and then some of his Round Table friends dropped by with a pillar drill (Mr Squidge is known as Mr Fixit in RT circles!), a brewing course and a driving experience at Silverstone.

I think it's safe to say I have one very happy 50 year old husband!