A John Deere Birthday Party

My tractor-mad boy had his 4th birthday 7 months ago now, but I have had it in mind to blog about his party for ages.  He insisted that he wanted a John Deere theme...  'No problem' I thought and started scouring Pinterest for ideas.  There *were* lots of ideas, but I found myself searching through countless blogs and websites to collate them all, so I thought it could be useful to write a blogpost with them all in one place.  So if you're planning a tractor or farm-themed party, I hope you find this useful.

Firstly, I think a themed table-setting really gets you off to a flying start.  I browsed Amazon and found this brilliant 'grass' tablecloth for less than 3 pounds, bargain!  It'll definitely be usable again for future parties.  The tractor napkins were also from Amazon, as were the plain yellow paper plates.  Cheap and simple.  The spotty cups and plain blue paper plates on which I served some of the food were from Tesco.  I dotted the table with various toy tractors and farm animals.

I decided to make all of the food fit in with the theme, but wanted to keep this as simple as possible as well as making foods that your average child will actually eat!

Well, OK, the kids mostly ignore the crudites!  But it makes me feel better to put some out.  😉

Just breadsticks.

Tesco own-brand crisps.  I love those bacon ones, and enjoyed the humour of displaying them next to the toy pig!

Obviously you could make your own of all the above hot foods, and if I'd been in a 'Supermum' kind of mood I definitely would have done so.  However, my husband was away and my son and I were going out on the morning of the party (in a fabulous co-incidence, it was 'Open Farm Sunday' so we popped over to the local dairy farm to ogle at the awesome machinery!) so I just bought everything from the supermarket.  

I did however make some 'Cheesy Chicks', just cheese biscuits using Nigella's 'Cheesy Feet' recipe:

And now the puddings:

I had these cute little foil cases in the cupboard which I'd bought *years* ago from the Dollarstore when we lived in Canada!  Great to find a use for them.  This was just green jelly with green grapes cut up in it.  If I was catering for more children I'd have done some yellow ones too.

I was quite proud of these as I made up the 'recipe' and my son really enjoyed helping me make them.  I simply melted a mixture of milk and dark chocolate and threw in raisins and chopped nuts (none of the guests have allergies), then plopped it onto a lined baking tray in suitable 'dollops'.

A genius idea from Pinterest was making rice-crispie cakes into hay bales.  I displayed these in a trailer.

Lastly, my son's favourite popcorn (Coconut and Vanilla 'Propercorn').

I may not have made all the food myself, but I did manage to create the cake!  I had seen some amazing John Deere cakes on Pinterest, but this was one I designed myself; extremely simple but I thought it was effective and Ted loved it.

Judging from the carnage left after the tea, all the guests enjoyed the meal.  I did too (thankfully the mums of Ted's friends are a brilliant bunch) - but obviously I collapsed in a state of exhaustion, glass of wine in hand, as soon as everyone had left!

30 Days Wild - Day 20

Today was my 40th birthday party so we spent the day at home preparing.  Thankfully the weather was dry so we were able to be outside all afternoon. 

Here are some wild flowers (mixed with cultivated ones) that my friend brought along as a birthday present.  I think they are the most beautiful bunch of flowers I have ever received!

30 Days Wild - Day 15

A wild birthday party!  I love Summer birthdays, and we are usually very lucky with the weather.

I love how Ted doesn't care if it's socially acceptable to chat to the friends who have so kindly come to your party - diggers win every time!

30 Days Wild - Day 14

Little T's 3rd Birthday!  A relaxed day after the excitements of the fete.  Picnic lunch overlooking our lovely valley, then a cycle ride to the playground in the neighbouring village.  We made daisy chains together for our wild activity.

The White Ball

After the excitement of the Sultan's Birthday Parade that I blogged about on Friday, last night we had the 'White Ball' at the Palace.  This is somewhat of a misnomer because it is not really a ball; there's no ballgowns and no dancing - not even any music - but what it is is a huge sit-down dinner for thousands of uniformed people (mainly military and police) in celebration of the Sultan's birthday.  It's called the White Ball because everyone wears white.  Those in uniform wear their smart white jackets (or 'ice-cream suits' as we cheekily call them!) and the 'other halves' wear anything that's a) white and b) appropriately modest.

The Istana Nurul Iman is the Sultan's huge palace overlooking the river in central Bandar.  We have visited once before, last year for Hari Raya, when the palace is opened to the public for 3 days, but this was an altogether smarter and more exciting affair.  Unfortunately not all of the Loan Service got their invitations to the Ball, but we were lucky enough to do so, and excited to spend an evening at the Istana.

As we drove through town towards the palace we were wowed by all the fairy-lights that were strung up everywhere, on lamp-posts, roundabouts, in trees, etc.  It gave the place a really festive feel.  This theme continued as we entered the palace gates, and went into the palace itself.

We proceded through the entrance hall where we went through airport-style security scanners, and then - very amusingly - were stickered with little labels that said 'Normal Body Temperature'!!  The White Ball was cancelled 2 years ago due to the H1N1 outbreak, so I suppose they were just being super-cautious.

There were no allocated seats so we found some more Loan Service friends and sat with them.  I just loved all the royal crockery and cutlery, and the huge silver dishes in which the food was being kept warm.

Having come through a metal-detector on the way in, there was definitely not going to be any cutlery-pinching this evening (as if we would!) but I did keep the menu as a souvenir.

Chatting with LS friends who had been to this event last year, we realised that it was going to be a long evening, so we took the opportunity to wander around and take some photos.  We were rather tickled when we followed the red carpet back through the palace along the route that the Royal party would no doubt be taking, and came upon this little escalator!  

We made sure of course to get plenty of photos of the two of us on the red carpet too.

We sneaked a peek into the Sultan's dining room which was incredibly lavishly decorated.  We had queued through this room at Hari Raya, but it was lovely to see it all set out for dinner, complete with gold chairs.   The main attraction however was the air-conditioning!  We spent a few minutes standing outside the open doors, just enjoying the cool breeze.  Unfortunately we didn't qualify as VIP-enough to warrant a seat in here...  never mind!

At about 9pm there was a definite buzz in the air and we all stood up as the Sultan and his family entered.  As soon as they were seated it was time for macan - food!

The burners underneath the food dish had obviously stayed alight as the food was nicely hot, and really tasty.  There was a lamb dish, a beef dish with cashew nute, a chicken curry, a prawn Thai curry, chili fish and mixed vegetables, along with 2 types of rice.  We all got stuck in.  The amazing multi-coloured dessert was layered pistachio, raspberry and passion-fruit, and was delicious.

An intimate meal for thousands...!

Just as we were finishing dessert we all had to leap to our feet as the Sultan and his entourage were starting their rounds.  They shook hands with every single one of the guests, literally thousands of people.  It took over 2 hours.  I can only imagine the potential for repetitive-strain-injury for the poor man!  

Not surprisingly they worked their way along the lines at quite a pace, so the opportunity for photos was limited.  They were also surrounded by official photographers and cameramen, so we weren't able to get our own photos of us shaking the Royal hand.  I did catch them on their approach though:

 

His Majesty the Sultan, followed by the Crown Prince.

One of our party shook the Sultan's hand and then, desperate for a better photo opportunity, ducked into the next line, and managed to do the same again (while another friend with a great camera managed to get the most fabulous picture of him shaking hands with His Majesty).  The Sultan, to his credit, did a subtle but noticeable double-take at shaking the same hand twice - he was obviously paying attention!

The Loan Service working the white theme!

 

Excitement over, we then had to wait for the Sultan to work his way through our dining area, and then on to the other one.  We finally left at nearly midnight, tired but happy to have had such a fun evening - what a great experience!

Happy Birthday to the Sultan of Brunei!

Today is the Sultan of Brunei's 65th birthday.  It would be tricky to forget this date as there are signs and banners all over the country to remind us - plus it's a public holiday in celebration!

I have to say, I'm a big fan of the Sultan.  He seems like a genuinely nice chap - and I say that having met him a couple of times over the last year.  Brunei is a small country, and he's often 'out and about' meeting and greeting the locals (who adore him).  And of course, he often attends military events, such as the Hari Raya Open House at the Officers' Mess.

I also like the way that there are so many photos of him smiling, as well as more formal ones.  I think he's a very handsome man.

This morning we were up super-early as Rob had had an invitation to the birthday parade in the centre of Bandar.  Unfortunately it was only an invitation for him, so he dressed up smartly in his uniform and got a comfortable and shaded seat in the stands, while I was looking distinctly scruffy and had to watch the parade over the fence.  However, I still had a great time and really enjoyed wandering around taking photos of the spectacle.

Local TV cameras out in force.

So many important-looking people in their finery.  I think this headgear is wonderful.

The mosque was a stunning backdrop to the proceedings.

The Crown Prince arrives.

Huge motorcade, lots of cheering and flag-waving...

It's the Sultan!

What could these be for?

BOOM!!!!  Oh yes, the 21-gun salute!  Wow, that was LOUD.

The Sultan walks out to inspect the troops.

And returns in his fabulous gold landrover!

 The flypast, which included 2 of my neighbours (1 in a helicopter, the other in a plane).

The Sultan gives me a wave as he leaves..!

The Sultan's brother leaves in an amazing purple Rolls Royce.

Who doesn't love a man in uniform?  Rob looking very dashing.

I really enjoy events such as this in Brunei; after all it's what living here is all about in my mind, appreciating the history and culture of a different country.  I'll never get this experience again, so am trying so hard to make the most of it.  Next excitement - the Sultan's birthday 'White Ball' at the Istana (Palace) on Sunday night!

But until then, Happy Birthday Your Majesty!