A plump A4-size envelope arrives in the mail. Inside is the most intricately devised invitation card EVER. It’s from Muriel, to her much-awaited annual Ladies Only Tea Party. This year the theme is Alice in Wonderland. Her entirely handmade creation is covered in interactive flaps and labels and little tags to pull, exquisitely hand-lettered with such messages as “Read Me”, “Open Me” and so on.

There are 12 guests. We’ve been instructed to wear blue or pink, but specifically NO HAT. The reason? Muriel has painstakingly created the most charming individual cocktail hats for each invitee! They are tiny but elaborate, with net and lace, twinkling gems, feathers, lockets and flowers, all artfully added to a hat-base.

I get to her house an hour early in order to help with last-minute items. But she’s been working on this party for the last six months! So the only thing left for me is to fill 15 sandwiches with delicious crabmeat salad that’s been chilling in the fridge.

The dining area has been transformed into a Wonderland of Alice-related items: decorative tea sets on the table (including one with a fluffy white dormouse), clocks on the wall, a giant mushroom tucked away in the corner, a doll’s house of the kind that Alice grew out of, a smoking caterpillar and “talking” flowers with eyes attached to them. There’s even a rabbit hole, in the form of a deep vase with a sign pointing to it. Muriel’s handsome and sweet-natured grandson, just starting out on his career as a rap-artist, arranges the ’50s-era musical backdrop.

The guests begin to arrive, dressed in their Sunday best. Delighted gasps ring out as hats are claimed. We have our places marked out and settle in with all manner of goodies within easy reach. There are three kinds of sandwiches, minute tartlets, cookies and scones, macaroons and canapés, smoked salmon, tortilla chips and cupcakes inside actual cups. At the top of the agenda are Muriel’s famous lobster bisque and two whole bottles of chilled homemade limoncello! Complete with liqueur glasses shaped like small globes on green stems.

With the limoncello underway, giggles turn into raucous cackles and it’s time for a couple of games. Muriel has devised an Alice-themed scavenger hunt so complicated that it becomes a hilarious free-for-all with only winners, no losers. Followed by a word-guessing game. Followed by a brief talk about the secondary theme of the party, recovery from breast cancer. The Queen of the Party is a recoveree. She talks with friendly ease about her journey and Muriel’s grandson reads out an eloquent poem he created that very afternoon, for the Queen.

Then it’s time for photographs. We spill out onto the front steps, giddy with good cheer and Limoncello. Median age: 62 with a couple of outliers. We wave at passers-by. They wave and cheer back, as a golden afternoon glides to a close.

Manjula Padmanabhan , author and artist, writes of her life in the fictional town of Elsewhere, US, in this weekly column

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