Sun and Boules

S has work this morning, but given it includes the church’s AGM, the rest of us are excused.

I miss breakfast, but emerge to find P, A and K sitting in the glorious sunshine around a still smouldering fire pit.

Once S is home, we head out and walk to West Park and enjoy a lunch at the café, where everything is toasted a perfect golden brown. P brave soul that he is purchases a bottle of Diet Coke Citrus Zest – I do try to warn him…

K and A head off to catch their train home and S, P and myself wander around the park and enjoy the plant house and various sculptures and installations.



At this point the downside of ‘new shoes’ becomes apparent. Despite having worn my black canvas pumps with ankle straps a number of times previously and having walked good distances in them without problem, today they decide to rub the skin off my heels and ankles. I would post the photo I took of my heels (bizarrely the one that didn’t hurt is actually by far the worst), but it’s truly grim and some of you may be eating.

I make it back to the house where S (bless her), finds me a Compeed plaster.

The sun is still shining and P&S suggest I stay on, how can I resist?

After a gorgeous afternoon, which sees us laid out on parental cast-off sun loungers, stirring ourselves only for a game of rough terrain boules and an attempt to build S’s plastic greenhouse (which buggeration of buggerations I manage to break), we head to the shops to replenish supplies, then light the barbecue and encourage the fire pit back to life.

It’s hard to tear myself away, it’s just so comfortable being there with them, but it’s work tomorrow and so I reluctantly head home.

I haven’t even left the city before I hit a police road closure (that’ll be what all the sirens we heard were about then…) and have to divert around (giving thanks for a decent sense of direction coupled with a sat nav). Then as I head down the slip road to the motorway I see stationary traffic ahead and fear I may be about to repeat K&S’s experience of the previous night. Happily though I manage to make it out to the outside lane and I’m soon past the problem and barring the odd bit of contraflow, I have a reasonable journey back. Just time to sort myself out for tomorrow before I hit the sack.

An excellent weekend, filled with my favourite people.