It was a lovely evening.
With food and preparation done , I could focus on being myself as well as being hostess.
I always feel a little overwhelmed when the gals arrive all chirpy, excited, talking ten to the dozen , so much to share.
With everyone's busy schedules we don't get to meet as often as we'd like. So when we do meet, we like to make the most of the time spent together.
In the end , I made the aubergine parmagiano bake with lots of mozzarella and fresh basil and could not resist a side of tortellini is tomato and garlic. A huge mixed green Italian salad with walnuts added for extra crunch.
For dessert , BRAINWAVE !!! spicy apple cake with cardamon caramelised apples and vanilla ice cream, which turned out amazingly well, even though I do say so myself.
I adapted the gayatri recipe, substituting the carrots for grated apples and changing the spices . Sometimes , inspiration strikes and things actually work out .I am so pleased.
After dinner , we moved onto my well worn comfy black leather sofas and took turns in sharing innermost thoughts- 15 minutes each. These 15 minutes are stream of consciousness talking and it's always interesting to see what comes up.
I've cleared up , done part of the washing up and getting ready to hit the hay.
A lovely evening. Hope yours was too !
X X
The concrete floor of the balcony felt icy cold to my bare feet this morning. Sad leaving summer behind. Fun seeing all the blaze of colours appear .)
Every now and then Judith would say : "Look there's a plane taking off " while Mike was too busy talking and so kept missing them . 
