Fetes & parties...

We loved heading way up north to Barnet - all that leafy suburbia and mock-Tudor - and what a great party for Sophie's 18th. Suddenly the quiet, pine-scented streets were engulfed with the whoops and hollers of a double-decker bus load of teen-agers back from their tour of town. When they saw what was waiting for them in the driveway the hysteria reached critical levels and we steadied ourselves for the job at hand - Malteser muffins, Rocky Road, rum hot chocs and chocolate ice cream, all to be doled out in record time.

These two were brimming with delight at the though of the envy they'd incite in their classmates when they showed up with Malteser muffins for break time.

Here's the queue for the Big Event in Myatt's Field Park the other day. Damn I loved that fete - there was a tea dance and a procession, magicians, face-painters, fancy dress and of course, Choc Star. Opposite sat Mr Whippy, dishing out bright blue bubblegum flavoured stuff. I'd like to have been behind his counter to see how different the punters were - from where I was it looked like SW9 was a seething hotbed of allotment dwelling, cloth bag donning, multi-cultural embracing, ear to ear grinning folk.

And then came this lot at a party in Oxfordshire...

She wasn't smiling quite so much after her 9th scoop of raspberry sorbet. Roald Dahl could have written a great little skit on what became of all that sorbet.

These two, on the other hand, went all out for the frozen choc-dipped bananas - a bit eye-watering, perhaps, to begin with, but momentum was soon gained and with it a real satisfaction.