FEBRUARY 2013
Cousin Barbara's 90th Birthday.
Off to Masterton we went - to Holdsworth Villas where Cuzzie lives - 71 units of Village People - we believe their Christmas Show is not to be missed - thats if you can get an invitation.
Happily we got an invite to Barbe's celebration -
and it will be our first introduction to her family.
Actually we were a little apprehensive -
we were the only relatives of her birth family who have kept in contact since her contact with us 20 years ago.
Barbe's family came from Adelaide and Christchurch - her two sons , daughter and three of her Grandchildren.
We got there two days early and parked on a empty section apposite the village entrance.
Barbe was very pleased to greet us and was really quite excited - fussed around us a lot - tea , coffee and cookies were in abundance.
I got the Family Tree info going on the old HP computer ( the Mac has not been set up correctly so that will need to be sorted some time soon).
We had a good chat about family history and out came the photos Aunty Gladys had given her.
Typically many had no names on the back - thankfully my old brain kicked in and filled in the gaps.
Cousin Barbe has an uncanny resemblence to her mother -
her voice , speach , mannerisims , hair style , attitude and even her style of walking are so identical it is almost spooky.
In this photo with her first husband , her age was about 27. Family photos show her mother , so similar , that often confusion occurs as to who is who.
As she got older and greyhair appeared she joined the "Blue Rinse " brigade.
Her son was a hairdresser and kept his mother very well groomed with weekly trims, curls and rinse's.
He moved on to Dog Trimming ( and breeding King Charles Spaniels) . He had a good customer base of poodles. The white ones joined the "Blue Rinse" club.
He was highly regarded as a Kennel Club judge and traveled widely and often to Dog Shows all around New Zealand.
They had it all sorted - they thought.
They left Christchurch at different times and flights to meet in Wellington for the Friday night.
That all went well.
Saturday morning and the plan was for five of them to drive up to the function.
Just over the halfway point they realised they had left one of the girls behind.
She had been ringing them constantly but none of them had their phones turned on.
With much good natured ribbing and laughter they restarted the trip.
The function was from 2.00 to 5.00pm with some 40 attending.
The family took over so Barbe could just enjoy herself and chat and relax.
To achieve that she had to be banned from the kitchen - "her kitchen", that was not easy for Barbe to accept.
A couple of Martinborough Sav Blanc"s helped.
Food was in abundance.
A well presented ham with a Apricot Chutney and/or a Red Wine jus was generously sliced and tasted devine.
A garden fresh salad , with five of the ingredients
from Barbe's garden , went down well for the salad lovers.
Boiled potatoes with Herbs and real butter topped off and completed this course.
Thanks to the Ham Slicing Son and his daughter.
There was trays of finger food to please the palete.
Finished off by a large Pavlova with Passion fruit topping and a generous layer of Blueberries.
Greeting cards presented congratulations from far and wide.
Their was also a Large Card for all those in attendance to record their Best Wishes and to practice their odes.
And there is no Birthday Party complete without THE CAKE.
Complete with 90 sparkler type candles that just did not want to be blown out and stay out.
The cake mixture was a moist double chocolate delight with a soft butter icing in Barbe's favorite colour.
After a lot of huffing and puffing the candles were out and stayed out.
A little sit down to get over the hypoventilation and then the formal Cutting of the Cake.
The Queen herself could not have done better.
Straight and true and all the way through.
Don't mess with this Lady when she has a knife in her hand.
Everyone sang a hearty version of Happy Birthday, followed by a little address from her Cousin which led into a Toast.
The traditional Right of Reply was requested and Barbe
took a deep breath and presented her thanks to all and one.
Now it was really time for a drink.
The chilled bubbly stuff went down really well on this 30degree day.
The hospitality was every where.
Out in the colourful courtyard.
In the party tent.
And inside to escape the worst of the heat.
There was lots of talking.
Laughter and happiness abounded.
Just in case anyone was peckish there was finger food - and more finger food.
Every one went home with food , a big slice of cake and many Happy Memories.
Thank you all.
