Christmas in July

I haven't hosted a Christmas in July party since 2005 or so.  I moved to summer afternoon tea parties in August instead (although I don't seem to have organised one for this year).  I did notice that one of the Tupton pubs was having a Christmas in July party last Saturday but we had other plans so didn't investigate further.

Anyway, Freyja and Simon, who have recently moved into Simon's brother's house in Woodseats, decided that they would have a House-warming Christmas in July barbecue at their new place yesterday evening and invited a few people to join in.  They were fully expecting to have a "barbecue in the kitchen" because the weather yesterday was on the damp side and the forecast for yesterday evening wasn't encouraging.  As it happens, it wasn't raining when people arrived so actual barbecues were lit outside.  We knew the rain was coming though.  We could see it coming our way from the moors outside Sheffield.

Aidan, Simon's brother, jigged up a small tarpaulin to keep the food table dry.  Gaz and Simon put on their raincoats and encouraged the food to cook on the steamy barbecues. The house (four storeys high if you count the attic which will be Simon and Freyja's bedroom when the renovations are complete) has what is effectively a garden room on the bottom storey, so we mostly ate and drank in there.  The rain did not deter our celebrations and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Thank you to Aidan, Simon and Freyja for a lovely evening.  And we hope you will all be very happy in your lovely home.

Click on Cally and Freyja to get to the photos