Gosh I have been away for so long. So much for going back to normal life right after Christmas. That was wishful thinking!

We are not back to normal life now—we have bought the new house, but works are still going on and most of our furniture and things are still in storage. The builders assure me that we will be ready to move in by the end of May. That had better be true, if nothing else because summer is knocking at the door and all our warm season clothing is locked up and inaccessible until we do complete the move.

This delay has scuppered all my plans, not last of which was the one to hold a lovely garden party for Caterina. The flat we are in at the moment is too small to live in, let alone party. I racked my brain on what to do and in the end it came down to paying an absolute fortune to have a party at some random venue, or trust in good weather and have a picnic in the park. We plumped for the latter and nearly regretted it when the big day dawned grey and rainy. But lo and behold! By 11am the skies cleared and we managed to set up shop in a lovely corner of Bushy Park.

The only memento of the early morning rain was slightly damp grass, but a waterproof blanket (suitably covered by a Disney Princess tablecloth) took great care of that. The party décor was as garish as it gets with hot pink and light blue Disney princess everything (cutlery, cups, plates, balloons, down to a life size cardboard cut out of Cinderella)—it was a far cry from the elegant garden party with dainty china cups and fine linens I had initially imagined but one little girl was very happy. Especially because she was dressed up as a little Princess herself.

The princess makes allowancea for the British weather


A truly prince(sse)ly cake


The biscuit munching princess and her brother relax at home at the end of the party