Today was the day of the great party. You could perhaps term it a gathering of the clans seeing as it brought together friends and relatives, though it didn’t involve skirling of pipes or brandishing of claymores.

The party was of course to celebrate my Mum’s 90th birthday. It matters not that the actual day had passed a week before, this was the optimum date for everyone. We arrived at the Pickled Parson to find a long table had been made ready for us. Soft drinks were provided and we had a glass of prosecco each for a toast.

Our choices from the menu had previously been emailed to the management and everyone was served with a delicious main course and dessert. We had coffee and tea as well, then the staff brought in the cakes….Yes, cakes plural.

There was the elaborate gateau we’d ordered from Patisserie Valerie in Durham, a gluten free cake for two friends and a lovely M&S chocolate cake brought all the way from Beckenham by Kim and Dave. The Parson’s staff really pulled out all the stops for us, putting candles on all three. To her eternal credit, my Mum managed to blow out all of them, as can be seen from the photo, which by sheer luck, I took at the correct time.

We all had a share of one of the cakes and we decided it was only right that what was left of the gateaux should be left for the staff. Guests began to make their farewells and eventually we moved towards the exit too, though not before I made a promise to the manager, Matt, that we’d be back in ten years time for Mum’s 100th……Heaven knows how many cakes we’ll need for that…