We had spent the whole day rushing around like maniacs getting Jon's house ready for the onslaught - he wouldn't let us get it ready any earlier in case it disturbed him working - it took us from 7am till 2 the next morning! Something here about Grace And The Takeaway, and Jeremy And The Helpful Phonecalls....

And what about about Ruth's brother Mark shouting at us down a mobile phone till about 1:30 am: "I'm on the North Circular!"; "I'm still on the North Circular but I'm going the wrong way"; "I'm going the right way but I'm lost" etc... Mark....BUY AN A-Z! Only Mark could have got lost and stuck in traffic on the way to us - in Belgium - then been delayed 5 hours in customs as they ripped his car apart (and our wedding present) teaching the new recruits about the differences between his (Dutch) BMW and an English one (while totally failing to spot his little stash!). We had visions of our wedding party being raided and everyone hauled into prison during the afternoon!

MY GOD but it pissed down. The whole day it did nothing but POUR with rain. And the whole plan for the day revolved around being able to use the garden, or have 70+ people crammed into a house big enough for about 30.

Was absolutely glorious, couldn't have been more perfect. Warm and sunny, the sun was in and out enough to stop everyone from getting too hot out in the garden - a perfect summer's day! Phew!

We asked everyone if the food would be OK for the kids. "Yes, yes, no problem, honestly" they all said. Liars :) So at about 2pm Grace and Patrick, well tiddly, commandeered some hapless children in buggies and pushed them down to the chippie and back. I walked in the front room and found all the kids - and Ruth's bro Mark of course - covered in tomato sauce and stuffing chips like they'd just been invented. Poor little mites - no-one had asked them if they really liked falafels.

Well fancy asking Carol Moonlight of all people whether she'd had her bottom pinched!