This wasn't merely a random event in typical Millbrookian style, however. No, indeed! The three quarters of the population in question were recipients of invitations to celebrate John Elworthy's pirate-themed half century celebration by dressing up, drinking and dancing (almost undoubtedly in that order).
Mrs The Millbrooker and I were slightly late arrivals, courtesy of my unsociable shift patterns, but we made it nonetheless and quickly found ourselves confronted by some very nearly convincing Somalian pirates:
Some of us had taken the theme a tiny bit more traditionally. Dorothy and Arbuthnot, for example, were most fetching in Peter Pan style piratical gear:
And I thought that I made a fairly convincing Smee with my hastily thrown together ensemble of old tee-shirt as bandanna, posh waistcoat and chaffinch on the shoulder (couldn't afford a parrot):
The Ginger Tosser ale on offer was jolly decent and, of course, the bonhomie was flowing around the room mightily as Big John circulated, shaking hands with all and sundry, clearly having a whale of a time. Here's the man himself in all his piratical glory:
Mrs The Millbrooker and I saw the ritual cake cutting (and what a magnificent cake it was - but none of my photos are up to scratch, so I can't show it to you), and John clearly enjoyed the family moments immediately afterwards with (L-R) Gemma, Amy and the ever lovely Julie:
But then, sadly, another early shift called and we were forced to party-poop before the witching hour when things were still most definitely swinging. Huge thanks to John and Julie for inviting us to share the celebrations (sorry we couldn't stay longer) and, of course, I'm sure everyone will join us in wishing John a very Happy Birthday (which is actually today, rather than last Friday). Many Happy Returns, mate.
No comments:
Post a Comment