Wow.  What a night.  Great fun but a diet disaster.  I nearly always drive when we go out but last night James agreed to drive so I could be let loose.  We dropped Harvey off with his cousins and we went out with my sister Abi and Jim. It has been a very long time since I have been to a party with one of my sisters because we usually socialise with our children too.

As we left they were happily playing.

We arrived at Alison and Andrew’s.

I immediately began drinking and eating.  I troughed.  And troughed.  And then troughed some more.  I have wondered today why I was successful at Thursday’s party and not last night’s, when both parties had plenty of booze and food and fabulous and generous hosts.

One reason is that on Thursday I went out determined to not drink and eat much but last night I decided to ease up a bit.  Big mistake!  I also stayed in the kitchen last night but on Thursday I moved away immediately so was not near the food and booze.  That makes a massive difference as it is too easy to eat continually and then refill your glass.  I also think a big difference was that on Thursday I knew loads of people very well.  But last night I only knew 5 people and I guess I nibbled too much while chatting to people I don’t know.

The main reason though is staying in the kitchen.  The kitchen was full of plates of amazing food.  I practically hyperventilated in gastronomic delight when I walked in.  Everywhere you looked was a plate of something delicious.

Cheese board,

Mince pies,

Brownies,

Andrew is a fabulous cook and actually it was he who introduced me to those wicked chocolate bars with peanuts and Crunchie that many of you have since enjoyed.  And Andrew constantly walked around with plates of deliciousness:  sushi, cheese, egg and salmon bits on tiny bread rounds, steak pies, chicken kebabs, a selection of Indian snacks and many of these had dips to add to the calories count.  I am sure there was much more too.  It all proved too irresistible for me.

If I ever get invited again, please tie me to a chair in the sitting room with some water to sip.  And keep me away from the fizz, white wine, lime vodka shots and blueberry vodka shots.  Yes indeed, I overindulged in extremis.  It was a great party though and thank you very much Alison and Andrew.

This morning I decided to heal my body from last night’s excesses.  I began with a green smoothie.  I went outside and picked some Swiss Chard and added some parsley and broccoli.

This I put in the blender with 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1 tsp Chia seeds, 1 heaped tsp sunflower seed butter and 1 banana.  I blitzed it until it was smooth.

The smoothie was very refreshing.  That and some tea gave me the strength to set off round the village, delivering Christmas cards.  Harvey came too and we had a lovely time, chatting to dear friends and neighbours as we dropped off their cards.  I think I walked about 3 miles.

Lunch was quick and easy as it was gone 2pm when we got home.  Tuna and sweetcorn sandwich with a cup of Japanese Genmaicha tea.  This was followed by a long snooze!

James cooked dinner which was a rare treat.  We had roast lamb with roast potatoes, gravy, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and peas.  Yummy.

Today was not a disaster and tomorrow will be exemplary.