Silly Season

Last night all the reports were coming in from the family as they prepared for a normal Saturday evening.

Granddaughter Charlotte was toasting marshmallows from the heat of the family's newly built pizza oven that was in full smoke producing form. However no pizzas on this their traditional family Pizza Night. It had been lit to continue the process of drying out the newly built construction.

And anyway grandson Elliot was away and would have missed the inaugural feast. He was in Enniscrone on the northwest Irish (Republic) Atlantic coast with his Scout group camping there for 4 days. Lots of photos of them crabbing, kayaking and tenting in what must be a lovely part of the world. Seems to have been dry if no longer the baking weather even these parts have seen in the last months. Today he seemed to be doing some mass paddle-boarding - I'm sure there is a proper technical word.

So last night, Charlotte and Dad Barry tried to recreate the camping feeling at home and slept in a tent in the garden. The photo of them was taken by Mom in the morning. She didn't report how they got on.

Son J in West Sussex had posted a photo on Facebook on Saturday evening of his car and announcing he would be sleeping there. An Audi A5 two-door coupe didn't strike me as a good bed. Perhaps he was hoping he might get visitors. This morning he reported he had slept very well after hitting the car boot at 2:30 am (after one or six beers) and sleeping until 7:00 am when he crawled out to watch the final hour of the 12-hour British Lawn Mower Racing Assoc. endurance race near Billingshurst.

He claims "his" team came in second in their class. He failed to say whether he had done anything positive to aid the result. Back in 2001, he had been a driver at the event and as he commented a year or two back "It is horrible, and I mean horrible" adding he would never return to the driving seat. Still, he did manage to hold the phone still enough to send me one photo today.

Meanwhile back at the ranch nothing changed except that I decided to follow grandson Elliot and do some horizontal boarding. Only had the old "cloth" Li-Lo. Does anyone still use that name for an "air mattress", I think a Trademark in the 1950/1960s for a proper cloth-covered rubber version which were the only ones I knew as a child and not the plastic ones found today?

Had been floating on the pool for just a few minutes when I heard a car drive up. That ended my heavenly nap. Unannounced visitor which then meant I fled to the cool and above all quiet of the sitting room and watched a couple of hours of TV reports from the various cycling, rowing, and gymnastics European Championships taking place in Glasgow and to be followed by the light athletics disciplines in Berlin later this week. Europe and Scotland teaming up to show one can work together. Berlin has even created a free of charge  "European Mile" zone for visitors with lots of cultural and fun events.  

Much of the action was of the female gymnasts, not a sport that has been on the top of my favourite lists. But one does have to have enormous respect for them on that 10cm wide balancing bar. I suspect that in most circumstances one would be arrested for cruelty and torture for making people do this. In my childhood, the old leather covered wooden horse was a nightmare of my failed attempts to be a gymnast. I hated gymnastics and think I fled to the Judo group.

But to cool me down, I did attack a three-scoop portion of the homemade blackcurrant ice cream I started making yesterday evening. It was simply wonderful ........... even my dreams of having a "99 Flake" for the first time in nearly 30 years disappeared during the 15 minutes of delight.

For the record have put the Geotag on Enniscrone as it seems to be the furthest point from here.