Tea on the lawn (and some champagne!)

In preparation for the forthcoming inevitability, I decided to hold a party.

Tea on the lawn at Tewkesbury Abbey was pretty cool. The sun shone for the first time in weeks and it was brilliant. Picture the scene a cross between a parish church fete and a cocktail party. We had a very modest marquee (courtesy of the Boys Brigade!) and loads of bunting - with cup cakes on no less...how cool is that. There was an overall cake/french fancy theme and pink seemed to be the colour of choice. I am afterall the campest straight man known to many!

It was a fantastic afternoon with friends I hadn't seen for ages. Not only that but as much pink champagne as I could drink - I mean really. We had high tea like the Ritz with cake stands with fine cut sandwiches, cakes (including french fancies obviously) and full cream tea. Each cake stand was capped with an attractive picture of me in some silly hat.

Oh and I nearly forgot dress code was striped blazers and cravats - fantastic!

Check out the pictures - they-re great...http://www.flickr.com/photos/giraffehouse/

...and one final point was the band who played brilliantly and the singer was gorgeous - truly fab!

Rt Hon Al Jo - my mate

Had a great time today as we opened a new facility. I was responsible for looking after Rt Hon Alan Johnson. This meant that I had to ensure that he was at the right place at the right time. What a thoroughly nice bloke! He spoke reasonably off the cuff when it was his time to give the speech and also unveiled a plaque - perfectly done.

We had a bit of a close shave when he had three sets of people to see and he also needed to use the facilities. We cleared the corridor and posted a guard on the door. You wouldn't think that getting a Secretary of State to the toilet would be so tricky! Took five people.

The rest of the event was a dream and there was loads of time for Champagne. Not only that but I received a thank you - cool!