Special Lunch for Mum

It is the Sunday before Mum's 86th birthday (Tuesday) and she is coming to lunch with Lilian and the three of us are going to the Garden Centre at Agia Marina first for a bit of a wander and then returning for lunch.  This will leave John in charge of the kitchen so I got everything ready this morning with clear instructions as to what needed to be done whilst the girlies were out.  It was a warm and bright day but we had a strong wind which was whipping through the area where we were due to eat so we actually ate indoors rather than let our food go cold.

Lilian had not been to Marinos and Marina's place before and she was very impressed, not least with the prices.  As always I go and cannot resist buying something but I was fairly reserved and managed to pick up a couple of lovely ivy-leaved geraniums.  Tomorrow I am planning to revisit the stacking pots and have decided not to get rid of them but to plant half up with geraniums and the other half as a herb garden for Nicky.

Mum asked if we had a hat she could have for when she goes walking - we had given her a straw hat but balanced on her tiny head the merest puff of wind made it part company so John donated one of his baseball caps - Mum looks less than impressed by the look but as John says it wasn't about the look it was about the practicality. 

Lilian had been telling me that she was going away for a couple of days to have a bit of a break and had booked to go to the Forest Park in Platres.  Mum had said she would have gone with her had it not been for Fred, who we have decided is probably getting a bit too long in the tooth (if he had any) to be put in the vets for any length of time.  I said to Mum that Fred need not be an issue because between John and I, we could cover a few days of his care so that she could go away.  

She didn't take too much persuasion and so whilst we were sat in the garden Lilian phoned the hotel and secured a second booking for Mum so the two of them will be going on their holibobs together.  I did check with Lilian that she was happy with that decision and that she hadn't invited Mum safe in the knowledge that she wouldn't go - she laughed at that and said it was absolutely fine.  John and I think it is great that Mum decided she would go - previously if anyone had mentioned it she resolutely refused to even contemplate it.

Anyway we had a nice day - the trip to the garden centre was a success and we had one of my Mum's favourites for lunch - Hunter's Chicken with coleslaw and oven baked wedges and Lilian kindly brought a home-made egg custard tart.  I even got Mum and Lilian to try my beetroot cake which actually is quite nice and would be nice as it gets older with butter spread on it.

We finished the day with a drinkie up on the roof terrace and asked Mark and Nicky to join us but the wind refused to die down so we gave up sitting there and moved down into the warm and calm of the Do-Jo.  

John managed to stay up to watch the Mighty Blades playing Everton.  He was very glad that he did because he witnessed a rare and exciting win!