We had our deck-warming party yesterday, and it was a rousing success. The guests were a good combination of neighbours and friends (mostly mine, one of Simon's; who is the gregarious one? Oh yes, that's me.), and the weather was cooperative if a tad cool. Because it hasn't rained here (appreciably) since May 26th, and it was wow hot for three weeks, and then this week the clouds rolled in and it cooled right off, and the daily high dropped from 25 C to 19 or 18.

We had put out the seat cushions for the deck furniture, and then five minutes later it started to sprinkle, so in came the seat cushions until the rain stopped. Which it did. And then it stopped, but the day remained warm and humid. I was the only person at the party wearing sleeveless; I think I put on a sweater at about 10 p.m.

The turnout was somewhat lower than expected/hoped for, but there were still enough people, and enough variety of people, to make for a good mix.

The food was a hit. People brought stuff to share - appies, salads, that kind of thing - and Simon spent most of his time at the barbecue, cooking up a combination of teriyaki and tandoori chicken breasts and bbq-sauced drumsticks, and 'how big do you want it' steaks cut from this slab of cow. -->

The steaks were fantastic. And we still have a goodly chunk of that beef left. (The clever host fills his guests up on the less-expensive chicken before announcing that there is steak, apparently.)

I made pitcher after pitcher of Pimm's Cup, which was universally well-received. Even though I forgot to put any cucumber in the first three or four pitchers. Boss C's husband had a tad too much and it affected his vision, and thus he attempted to come through the screen door while it was closed, resulting in a tear in the screening, and a jammed wheel at the bottom. Should be easy enough, and cheap enough to repair. Boss C was mortified, I think, and took her sozzled mate home soon after.

We bought a bocce set and a croquet set for the party, and the bocce set (cheesy as it is) got used. The croquet set goes back to the store, though, because it's very cheap, a bit small for adult use, and has never been opened. So we'll get that $20 back. And there are a few bottles of wine and liquor that will go back, too. Not sure what we're going to do with the gigantic bottles of mustard, ketchup, and relish, which we bought for the hot dogs, mind you. (Or with the hot dogs, for that matter; S bought 4 dozen of them at Costco, and we used exactly two. We expected about a dozen kids, and got exactly one.)

Anyway, there's cleaning up to do today, as soon as Simon has slept off all that beer and port. And then it's Coldplay tonight!

I really wish I had been able to sleep past 7:30 this morning, since I got to sleep at about 2:30. Urf.