Family... My Family

Eldest son and family

We have just had a weekend that was like Christmas but without the hassle and the music and the alcohol. What we had was just the fun!
While two of my children live close enough to pop in whenever they feel like it, my eldest son live on the other side of England. This means that we don't get to see him and his lovely wife and two delightful sons as often as I would like (by this I mean, of course, EVERY DAY).
This weekend they came over to us so we had the pleasure of seeing how much the boys have grown since April (photographs are fabulous but seeing them and hugging them beats all) and we managed time to sit and talk.

Daughter and S-i-L and family (not the balloon lady)

At one stage there were ten adults and six children under ten years old in the house and it was great. I cooked dinner for eight adults and two of the children and we all managed to get around the table even if my daughter and I were standing up to eat. it was ok because we were passing things like glasses of wine and beakers of water and the salt and more gravy.

granddaughter and family

My great granddaughter sat on her chair with her chin just level with the table and ate her chicken and vegetables with a big fork "like M". Miss M sat beside her and showed her how to do it properly.

Continental Lentil Toad-in-the-Hole

I cussed and swore at the oven because it is the most nasty piece of torture equipment ever devised! If you put things in the top of the oven they burn if you put them in the bottom of the oven they take at least double the recipe time to cook. I have some fabulous heavyweight baking trays that fitted my old oven but are too darned big for this new pile of scrap. The biggest mistake I ever made was to listen when I was told that this oven was far better than my old one. I am saving my pennies and looking at things to sell on eBay because I want a new oven. I cooked a four bird roast and a Continental Lentil Toad-in-the Hole for the family dinner and the packaging stated that the roast would take three hours from frozen at gas mark 7 well I was prepared and put it in two hours early in the bottom of the oven and after 3 hours it was about defrosted so then I zapped it for half an hour in the top of the oven before putting it back at the bottom so I could put the Toad-in-the-Hole at the top.

Once again I am defeated by the formatting on Blogger. All I want to do is put the pictures down the side with the text alongside but it just leaves huge gaps!!