It was my mother’s 80th birthday last month and to celebrate, the family decided to take her for a suprise holiday to Dorset. This is her, with her beautiful granddaughters.
Are you thinking knitting, crochet, gentle walks along the seafront? Forget it, my mother may be 80 but she still parties like a rock star.
There were 11 of us, plus Lily the dog and we rented a 6-bedroom barn just outside of Bridport at a place called Lower Eype. http://www.barnonthecoast.co.uk/index.htm . 
For once, the photos on the website don’t actually do it justice, it is a fabulous, open barn conversion with a sizeable garden. The fittings are definitely a little shabby chic, but that was actually very relaxing and I loved the style. It had two huge sitting rooms, a dining area that would easily seat 14 and an open, welcoming kitchen with an enormous sit round kitchen table. (Not really a criticism, but it is worth bearing in mind that there is 1 amazing bedroom, 2 very nice and 3 quite small, so establish your pecking order in advance!) Add a grand piano (yes, really there was one!), and frankly it was just lovely. 10 minutes walk to the beach and 5 minutes walk to the local pub, the New Inn. Heaven!
I had pre-ordered a Waitrose Entertaining curry selection for dinner on the first night, which was delivered that afternoon along with copious quantities of wine, beer, vodka and other essentials. Next day, after an English-style day on the beach that reminded me of childhood holidays – you know, windbreakers, beach cricket, freezing swimming and sauvignon blance – (okay, maybe not the sauvignon blanc, but somehow warm orange juice wasn’t going to do it for me) we went to the local Eype pub for dinner. After Dermott the landlord had got over the shock of being asked for a table for 11, plus the dog, he was extremely accommodating that night and for the rest of the week and went out of his way to be helpful. The male drinkers in the party were absolutely enchanted by the local brewery (Palmers) and the food was unremarkable, but reasonable.
Monday, those of us that are fish lovers decided to treat ourselves and we had booked in at Mark Hix, oyster and fish restaurant in Lyme Regis ( http://www.hixoysterandfishhouse.co.uk/) 
His deep fried oysters with horseradish mayonnaise as an extra bit of loveliness to have with a drink were stunning, but my crab curry was the dish of the day for me. 
The day of days arrived along with a beautiful summer sunshine and was spent picknicking on the beach after a champagne breakfast. In the evening, after a “Hello” style photo shoot arranged by Ian and Joss, we had booked a room at the Bull Hotel in Bridport http://www.thebullhotel.co.uk/. 
The cheese straws with champagne in the courtyard were amazing, and I was impressed that the chef managed to cook that many steaks to such a high standard. It was good, solid unpretentious food and the setting was lovely. The party only stopped at 3.30 that morning when for the first time in many, many years my mother sent my brother and I to bed. Happy Days.
I couldn’t mention Dorset without mentioning Tiddy Oggies, which are basically Dorset’s version of the pasty and it is true to say, that the day following the amazing birthday, a walk over the cliffs to West Beach and a Tiddy Oggy saved my life.
I can’t remember the last time a week has gone so quickly and possibely the only thing in the world that could have cheered me up on my way home that Friday was knowing we were going to stop at the Hive Beach Cafe, Burton Bradstock for breakfast http://www.hivebeachcafe.co.uk/. We had stopped on the way for lunch, scene of Jimmy’s valiant fight against the giant crab (we still think the crab may have just had it on points), but this time all we really wanted were carbohydrates and breakfast food to help cure our misery. 
Their Eggs Benedict is a wonderful dish and I highly recommend anyone to stop for either breakfast, lunch or just because you can. Glorious views and glorious food and frankly that summed up our lovely birthday week.
The Bombay Boys 
I am so happy that you have written this as a permanent reminder of Nan’s birthday and our wonderful holiday – I shall be re-reading this throughout the winter in times of cold and misery!
Those deep-fried oysters were genuinely amazing – do you think we could recreate them?
Also, as you can see from the sorry state of us in that photograph, the tiddy oggies may actually have saved our lives.
The eggs Florentine at the Hive Cafe were equally as good as the Benedict – possibly the best I have had. The hot chocolate was pretty sublime as well.
I would also like to give honourable mention to the lovely cakes at the brilliant Bridport Arts Centre (and to the knitting exhibition that Joss and I saw there).
There was a Cornish schoolboy chant about Tiddy Oggies:
“Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Ate a pasty 5 foot long,
Bit it once, bit it twice,
Oh my Lord, ’tis full of mice.”