Wimbledon Men's Final...

It is Sunday and it is my turn and I am mindful that at this time of the year Mum loses her appetite and Dad just doesn't seem to be eating as much as he did and so I really want to try and tempt them both with something interesting.

I thought that as it was the Wimbledon Men's final I would do a special Wimbledon Afternoon Tea after John's Mum mentioned she was going to one and would incorporate the Pimms, the strawberries and the cucumber.  All in all I was a bit disappointed with the final match and the afternoon tea.

I had tossed and turned all last night with loads of 'things' running through my mind including making sandwiches and keeping them fresh so I had my plan about when to make them and when to serve.  Mum and Dad were coming up early for our traditional Sunday card game and then Di and Rob were joining us for the match and we had agreed to eat at 5.00pm because Dad didn't want to leave Fred too long alone at home - and to be fair now that Fred is a house cat and the house can get very very warm shut up that was perfectly understandable.  My plans went out the window when we realised the match didn't start until 4.00pm our time and right at that point our internet threw a complete wobbly as did our android box and we had to dust off the old steam driven one and get it working.

We had done a sweep stake for the tennis - each one of us choosing a card which related to a score and the winner was to receive a prize of a rather nice box of truffles.  John and I both selected cards which would have necessitated Cilic performing out of his skin and out of his skin he didn't do!  Rob took first prize having selected the Ace of Clubs which corresponded to Federer winning in straight sets - Rob was pleased because he says he never wins anything but not half as pleased as Federer who won his 8th Wimbledon Men's singles title and pocketed a cool £2.2 million which is outrageous - but with tickets at over £2K for that game there is so much money involved - hope the attendees thought they got value to money.

So Mum and Dad came up after brunch and having settled Fred and we had our game of cards and as usual the scorer (John) won so the world is still spinning correctly on its axis.

Mum joined me in the pool afterwards, the water was the warmest it has been for us at just around 31 degrees and I think she enjoyed the dip although she says she has lost her confidence in the water which is a shame but she can just cool down on the steps so doesn't have to venture out in the water and our pool is small enough that even in the deep end she is not out of her depth (if she stands on tip-toe).

We settled down to watch the match - John having been watching the Grand Prix from Silverstone to be faced with nothing, NADA and a panic to get the game on by the time Di and Rob arrived.  We didn't quite manage it but rectified the situation pretty shortly afterwards and it must have just been a blip because after they had gone home we put the normal box back on and it worked perfectly - the law of SOD.

I tried to stick to the 5.00pm tea time but it wasn't easy getting sandwiches freshly made and plated up so they didn't ressemble something from a railway museum.  With a bit of help from John I got there in the end and we sat down to Egg Mayo, Pate and Cucumber, Beef and Caramelised Onion sandwiches, Pork Pie, Onion, Apple and Cheese Flan, Watermelon, Halloumi and Mint kebabs, with crisps, pickled onions, beetroot, coleslaw, cherry tomatoes and pickle.  This was followed by strawberries and cream (for which, as you know, mum had auctioned her kidney as they were sooooo expensive), gin and tonic drizzle cake and stones, butter, jame and cream.  I say stones because bloody hell Paul Hollywood you really let me down with your light and fluffy scone recipe.  I was mortified at the canon-ball-like lumps I offered my guests.  No amount of 'refreshing' was going to make these babies fluffy - next time I shall stick to a tried and tested recipe otherwise I feel some hefty dentist bills coming my way.

Mum and Dad left a little later than anticipated but not too much so.  Rob and Di stayed on to finish up the Pimms.  Maybe not my finest hour catering-wise but a lovely day all the same.  Must find out from Rob what he chatted to Dad about - they were deep in conversation for ages.