Today marked 40 years of marriage for Stuart and Fi and we were so glad they chose to celebrate it here with us. We’ve been friends nearly as long and shared many memorable times together. Our girls are close in age and we’ve watched them all grow up too.
We started the day with a bit of a Scottish brunch. We’d brought out some Scottish square sausage and some Tattie Scones with us and we whipped up a hunger busting breakfast of those plus grilled tomatoes, baked beans, poached eggs and toast.
Habib came up to the house with one of his friends and began the job of moving our green fence back to the property line now that our neighbour’s wall below the gap has been built. It will take a couple more days. The ground is so hard still after the long hot dry summer. Digging with spades is out of the question, they have to use pickaxes.
After breakfast, Fi and I lay around the pool reading and enjoying the sun. Bob and Stuart went off to Mr Pound and bought a new step ladder. Bob has some electrics to do and our ladder wasn’t tall enough really. They also went to China Bazaar and bought a few things.
In the afternoon they began one of the electrical jobs. Our gourd lights are hard wired into connection boxes on the wooden beams over the dining patio. This means that when they come down in November and go up in early May, the job has to be done by someone comfortable with electrics. Bob is handy that way but otherwise we’d need to get an electrician in. So, he has replaced the connection boxes with outdoor socket boxes. This means the gourd lights can have plugs put on the end of the cables and just plug in and out when they need to be removed. It will make it an easy job that anyone can do.
The anniversary celebrations began at 6pm when we met, dressed for dinner, to enjoy champagne and nibbles on the terrace. We toasted to many more years for them!
Our taxi picked us up at 645 and took us to Driftwood, a lovely restaurant built over the sea in Lapta. We’d booked a table on their wooden dock right at sea level. Unfortunately there was a warm but stiff breeze coming right off the sea and although we sat there for a while, we decided that the food would cool too quickly so we moved to a window table inside. Pamela joined us too.
Food was as good as always and the service is very friendly and professional there. We decided the orders whilst eating a small selection of free meze. I had a fillet steak with blue cheese sauce, Bob and Fi had fillet steaks with pepper sauce, Pamela had a massive chicken steak with blue cheese sauce and Stuart had a seafood platter. There were platters of vegetable sides including divine mash and chips. We washed it all down with a bottle of prosecco and then some red wine.
Bob and I had organised a cake, made specially by one of the restaurant owners. Chocolate ganache and it came with a little handmade card and a cake topper with 40th anniversary on it and candles. Of course the staff presented it with music and pazzazz, singing it to the table!! We had big wedges of cake and cream and then Turkish coffee and brandy. A very lovely, memorable and happy evening. They blew out their candles and we all wished them many more happy years together.
Our taxi took us home and we sat out for a bit on the terrace with some drams before turning in.