THE AGE OF INSPERIENCE

Fun in the comfort of your own home is here to stay, even with pubs and restaurants opening their doors again.

Lockdown has turned us all into homebirds with excellent wine hoarding skills (cellar to posh folk) and enough snacky snacks to sit out a second spike.

In case you’re just not ready to venture out yet, or you’re in local lockdown, or have just outgrown your pre-covid clothing and have nothing to wear to leave the house, there are plenty of options for partying at home.

Last Friday night, my best pal Ali (who’s also my bubble) came over and we sampled a range of indoor pursuits, which turned out to be mainly drinking and laughing loudly at our own jokes (see right).

Every so often we made my daughter Jesse (Ali’s goddaughter) come down and take photos of us with words of encouragement like, “Make us look beautiful or you’re out of the will.”

Like any event, even a party in a box can have its highs and lows.

The birthday bunting, party popper and alcoholic cocktail gummies, especially the mandarin spritz, were top-notch guests, while the cherry edible cocktail glitter dust and elderflower spritz sherbet dipper tasted like products for cleaning up after the party.

The instant cocktail effervescent set was a bit like dropping a Berocca vitamin tablet into a glass of fizz, but gave us hours of fun and reminded us what it was like to laugh like idiots after months of misery.

Our evening was supposed to revolve around a Zoom flowerarranging class, but after three cocktails and half-a-bottle of white wine each, we were starving and even the lilies were beginning to look tasty.

We both thought the florist went a bit fast for us to keep up, however, my bouquet definitely turned out better than Ali’s, but she did discover an unknown talent for making buttonholes. Even after 20 years of friendship, her talents never cease to amaze me.