30 June 2007

Big Man has got a promotion on another island, and while he contemplated the offer for a day or two, it really was too good an opportunity to pass up. I’ve never had any real professional dealings with him, but I get the impression that his rise through the organization has been based of luck and cronyism than merit. Still, he has the grace to note that he is nervous and wonders whether he is ready for it. His wife on the other hand, is a different story..

Nordy Lass is in her element as is able to complain about everything and bragg about it all at the same time; “It is sooo horrible and I’ll have no friends but we are getting paid just sooooo much we cant refuse” and “Having an armed guard is such an inconvenience but its because we are soooooo important you know”. She is really insufferable and while I am not one to begrudge another’s good fortune, I will happily make an exception in her case

29 June 2007

Having just waved off our last guests, Lady of Leisure has organised a little soiree, at the earliest opportunity in case there was a danger of the blood alcohol levels dropping. This is a bit of an experimental evening, with the guests a little bit open toed sandals and green lentils than our normal flavour of friends, but we know and like them a bit, and Wee Lad is the same age as their son.

There is a little element of trying to impress as our guests are designer types, with pretty modern tastes which jars slightly with the whole hippy thing. The house has been suitably buffed up and pre-dinner drinks on the Robin Day sofas seem to do the trick.

Modern Hippies, like us, enjoy their food and Lady of Leisure has prepared a mini world tour of flavours as we progress through the courses, from Mediterranean, to North American via Japan. Makes my job of matching the wine more than a little difficult. I decided the best tack was to begin with the good wine long before the food came. I started with a very tasty St Emilion that I had brought over personally and kept lifting bottles from the lower (and more expensive) part of le cave.

The only slight hiccough during the evening was when out of politeness, Lady of Leisure opened the bottle that our guests had brought with them. Luckily by then we had polished off our very tasty but highly spiced main course, so we had a window of opportunity to knock back the Yellowtail Shiraz while our palates were off recuperating.