The Party: 31st Aug

I was slightly apprehensive about this party as Pat had told all his Spanish friends that I wanted to practice my Spanish with them! It is one thing to buy things in a shop or order food in a restaurant, but a real conversation!!
There were 13 guests, 3 ex-pat Brits, one of Pat's sons, Jake, and the rest were Pat's Spanish friends. They all arrived promptly at 2pm, and when Pat introduced me, they looked expectantly at me, waiting for the fluent Spanish to emerge, and I completely clammed up! :-( I know, that is a first for me!
Edwina put on an incredible spread, starting, of course, with tapas. But tapas, with a bit of a British twist. It included coronation chicken!!
We were all sat out in the shade on her extensive patio, next to the orange trees, with incredible scenery all around us. I was lucky enough to be sat next to Reyes, a lovely lady, who looks about 30 but has children in their 20s! (everyone puts it down to the olive oil!). After several glasses of her delicious sangria, (containing peaches from her garden), I started to regain a little confidence, and we exchanged life histories! The fact that one of her many jobs included teaching English, meant she was very patient with me, and spoke slowly, unlike everyone else in Andalucía!
The afternoon gradually became evening, but still we sat, drank and ate. The dogs were allowed to join the party, and became the centre of attention, especially with the children. Then at midnight, half of them left to go to the Frera in Priego. This is a week long fair/fiesta, where the partying goes on literally all night. We, however, just crawled into bed!