And so the Jubilee Siege begins

In the quiet of my room. 8:59am.
The bunting is strung up across the Mews, hung from lantern wire and pipe. There is a party due to start there at 4:00 this afternoon. We have been invited, of course, which is the trouble, as I must now spend the entire evcening avoiding the party. It is very nice we are invited of course, but, really, the thought of a party - any kind of party - usually fills me with a sense of cold horror. It is all that 'joining in', all that enforced jollity and party games. We live in a world where 'joining in' is seen as something noble and heroic and mandatory. 'Bring your own food!' the woman said from next door when inviting us 'and if you can do any entertaining then even better - bring your talents too...'
Upon hearing this news I considered the option of maybe spending the night in the woods somewhere. Now I am considering just hiding in my room when the celebrations start... but I have to go down and let Em in when she finishes work... I have to make sure I have all necessary food and supplies, as I don't really want to make my way through the jolly fascism (Celebrate or die!) of the Mews party once it starts.
This seems to be turning into a siege situation.
I didn't even like the Jubilee celebrations back in 1977. I broke my plastic union jack flag.