The family decided on a week long celebration to mark Terry's 80th birthday.
The fruitpicking season finished on the Friday before and Matthew, Kerry and Julie were leaving, so 'An end of Season Birthday Dinner' was held before our pickers moved on to other employment. On the following Wednesday, which was Terry's actual birthday, we had a dinner with four good friends, Rachel, David, Denny and Tony,.. Then Friday brought cousins Ada and Hilton from Auckland to spend the long week-end with us.. Julie and Kerry had come back on the Thursday to help us prepare for the luncheon on Saturday. Terry had worked really hard to finish the conservatory in time and there were putty smeered windows to be cleaned, floors to be scrubbed and tables and chairs to be put out.The kitchen was a hive of activity with last minute dishes being prepared for the Saturday party. Rita had iced the beautiful birthday cake made with 5lbs of an exciting mixture of fruits. We needed good weather as the house is too small for a large party and the week leading up to the party had been really cold with snow on the mountains, so we were delighted to have a 22degree sunny still day dawn on The Day!
Janet and Ken arrived early with more goodies and to decorate the conservatory venue area and put out the necessary party stuff. Bruce next, with a Powerpoint slide show of Terry's life. More tables and jugs for the fruit punch were needed, so off to David's house for help. The party was to be a Southern African get together of family and our Zimbabwean and South African friends. Once assembled, Bruce our MC, gained everyone's attention to welcome everyone, Ken gave the thanksgiving and Win read her brilliant two paged 'Ode to Terrance". She also gave a synopsis on the family's Scottish heritage with the motto 'To shine, but not to burn". After the first course Bruce showed the big black pot that was used in saving Terry's life when he was born, reminding us that without the pot's part in Terry's life none of us would have been there to celebrate. He paid a great tribute to his Dad, and then Anne, Win and Holly lead us in a delightful singalong to Holly's music on the guitar. The combined contributions of the delicious desserts kept us all quiet for a while and a great time was had by all. Jim was found to be in the kitchen washing up and Julie tidied the dishes away. What a day! Terry's hard work in getting the conservatory finished in time, had paid off handsomely, making this occasion even more special.
Ada and Hilton stayed on until Monday to catch up on several years of absence, and so our planned week of celebration stretched to Ten Days of Birthday. 80th birthdays only come once!
