Butterflys chased hummingbird moths...

"To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century." To make matters worse my husband who was allowed to be "gone" for the evening decided he would just hide out in the family room down in the basement with the dog. What in the world was I going to do if during the garden tour part of the evening the six guests spied my husband lurking in the walkout basement. I decided that I would just tell them the truth. My stomach couldn't handle anymore stress!. I was quaking and feeling sick to my stomach. I was very out of practice cooking and hosting this type of a dinner party. I had been left holding the bag. This dinner was auctioned off as "Some enchanted Evening" to raise money for the Youth of our Rotary club. It should of been hosted at my house during June. However, the lady who organized the auction did not write down who had won the raffled event and so it was only just being held this past Monday. Instead of Interact members playing their instruments out in my garden and serving a BBQ and salad type meal the theme had been changed to a harvest theme and me as the soul person providing everything.  I made a mental check... table set with all my best. Check. Pumpkin soup ready. Check. White wine chilling. Check. Red wine breathing. Check. Garlic wedges with whole grain mustard spread and broiled to perfection. Check.  Beef Carbonnade simmering. Check. Brown ale to accompany the dish. Check. Lemoncello in the freezer to chill and be offered to cleanse the palette after the main course. Check. Apples tossed in my spicy peach jam and cooked as a crumble  ready to be heated. Check. Ice cream pre-scooped into balls and ready in the freezer. Check. Brownies flavoured with Blood Orange and Espresso bean from Fustini's. Check. Fifteen minutes to go... I rush up the stairs and barely slip into my dress when I hear a car. Its not the Rotarian who had offered to arrive early, bringing the wine and greet people for me. Its someone I have never seen before. I rush downstairs to assure them they are in the correct place. Welcoming them in and putting on a smile that hides the heightened level of discomfort, the doubt, the dread! I hear myself offering them drinks and the tour.. Yes the tour, lets go out into the garden. Im comfortable with the garden. Four of the six have arrived. Not the lady who had offered to greet. I was totally on my own. I breathed in telling myself I could do this. I heard myself explaining the garden when I realized I was just about to take them into the meadow where they would be able to see straight into the walkout basement and see my husband watching TV. I spun around and like a deranged mess I herded them to another part explaining the plants and the sculptures. Ending up on the backside and again avoiding the meadow even though one of the ladies was very set on going to see it. My new Canadian friend arrived to give me moral support and we took eveyone inside to get the evening started. Where was my Rotarian friend.. Why wasn't she here?. We couldn't start without her so dinner had been put on hold. Luckily the four knew each other well and Nicole acted as a buffer. Ales, wines were poured. Appetizers brought out. Time ticked loudly in my head. My stomach had every monarch butterfly from my garden chasing the hummingbird moths around in it... It churned.  I felt faint.  Finally the last couple arrived and we were able to seat them at the table. Out went the pumpkin soups. Wine glasses topped. Dishes collected. Then the Beef Carbonnade, boiled potatoes and garlic wedges. Anyone for Lemoncello?. As they sipped the Lemoncello we dished up the apple crisp and ice cream. Put out the brownies and as they finished their last course we quickly put all the dishes in the dishwasher. Nicole left and soon the Rotarians rose to leave. The evening was over and I could relax... I waited for the last car to leave the driveway and heated up some sleepytime tea. grabbed a plate of food and  I climbed the stairs to the loft and crashed on the couch to eat before calling it a night. Check one more thing off the list of stressers removed from my life following doctors orders. I had survived the evening.

I actually laughed when I say todays theme for the Blogtember. I actually lived this story on Monday September 16th...  For anyone just joining in on these posts. Not my usual garden related posts. This is me joining up with other Bloggers over at "Story of my Life" Click http://storyofmylifetheblog.blogspot.com/ to view other bloggers stories...
Tomorrow I will be touring either my garden or a friends for Fertilizer friday... I promise flowers!
Thanks for sticking with me through these unusual topics. Its my way of stepping outside my box.....Sometimes my box gets very very small!.

leave me a comment and let me know you have been. See you walking the garden tomorrow.

Kate