It seems to be party season at the moment. Since the end of last year, there have been numerous celebrations - engagements, weddings, birthdays - in Christchurch and spread out across the South Island. The most recent occasion was my sister Olivia's 21st party on Saturday night.

We rigged up a decoration of fairy lights and white cloth, which was carefully twisted around and over the veranda.  We moved couches from the lounge to the concrete patio outside and placed them directly under the tulle and lights. Dad managed to borrow two large outdoor gas heaters from his work and another smaller brazier from friends. These provided warmth during the party and a very necessary deterrent to unwanted nocturnal insects.

Olivia is a talented seamstress and she made the dress that she wore for the evening. She looked stunning! She was also kept busy in the week leading up to the party with creating all the desserts and cakes for supper. I think everyone was very impressed with the spread she provided! Here she is with two of her cousins.

And now the first cut into the birthday cake.

Once supper was finished, the games began. Currently, there are two games that seem to be favourites: Articulate and Dutch Blitz. Both are great fun, but when you try to play Dutch Blitz with sixteen players, it can get very cramped! It was a massive game with two full sets of the cards in use.

The entire evening was fantastic - I'm not naturally a night owl at all, but I didn't get to bed until 1:30am! Awesome night!