October 2009 'The Visit'

Well what a day we had.  After three weeks of pure stress, Geoff and Stephen finished picking potaotes three days before the visit, the machinery arrived 2 days before the visit, and the date thingy only arrived the day before.....I spent three days cementing floors and painting, nails completely shot - not that they are ever brilliant, but the loo and kitchen looked lovely - shame no one saw them...  but at least they are a constant reminder to me of the day.

Barbara and Mike friends from Cheltenham did  a fantastic job of the food, and Bettys helped with tea and cakes.  The wine was lovely - another friend ferried it over from France and the Marquee looked very posh.  Robert Ramsden the chef from Delifresh did a fantastic job of keeping us all entertained when the Duke was delayed due to the weather.  The security men were so nice and the clerk to the Lord Lieutenant was an absolute star.  So after all our panics we had a marvelous day, one which will never be forgotten.  Hopefully the photo's will show you some of the highlights.  Geoff, Stephen and I have to thank everyone who helped on the day, Amanda, Wendy, Gail, Fiona, Russ, Gary, Lorraine (Kid me Not) and Rosemary were all fantastic, and they made such a difference to the way the day ran.

The Duke of Gloucester was so kind, and made sure that he spoke to everyone, he was running so late and yet he stayed well over our allotted time.  We have had a lovely letter from Kensington Palace thanking us.  As you can imagine it has pride of place on the wall. Check out the photo's the boys scrub up quite well dont they!