Loverly warm house and fields

Happy house-warming to Liz and Graham - celebrated in Gregory style by extending the invitation to their scads of friends for a "Paddock-Warming Party".  The original plan was a weekend-long tenting event but the weather forecast forced them to scale it back to a Saturday afternoon BBQ with appropriate paddock activities. 

After a fabulous feed with soooo much yummy food one couldn't even possibly get a sampling of one of each dish, the kids were challenged to (a) find a large pile of cut grass and (b) hunt for treasures in said grass.  They were quick to spot it in the corner and there was much subsequent kicking up of hay and dust, to uncover bookmarks, plastic insects, lollipops and the like.

Then all able-bodied persons were called to attention in the paddock for a selection of relay races involving wheelbarrows, poles, a giant wooden reel, an ax, golf clubs and the ever-present gumboots.  Our team, modestly named "Team Awesome", consisted of Caleb, Jaydon, Grant, Petru, Justus, Abigail, Dinnay, Nick and myself, although after successfully completing the wood-chopping event, Nick abandoned us in favour of a theological discussion.   

Being a participant meant I had to abandon the camera, so thanks Liz for this great shot of our winning (awesome) team!

There followed dessert and more chatting...

...and table-tennis for the energetic and young in spirit. 

And then...we're not finished yet...Graham lit a brazier (I was careful to check the spelling of that one, not wanting to imply that Graham was a 1960s feminist) and we toasted marshmallows. 

Wow, what a great party it was.  We would happily have stayed beyond 9.30 pm as many did, but with church the next day a reasonably early night was prudent.  Thanks Gregories, your hospitality is a huge blessing!