BBQ

If I'm teaming up with friends, it is often the Gerlan crew of four, or the wider crew with Llanberis contingent, of six. The Llanberis contingent, though, will be out of the country for year. We will miss them! But I am sure they will have a great adventure.

We wanted to get together before they left and we managed to find a date for a barbecue. The previous time we had planned a barbecue the weather was atrocious and we needed to stay indoors (no blog post). But this time, we had accidentally settled on a date that was in the middle of a heat wave. The barbecue was on! And we intended to have it by the lake in Llanberis.

Given that both Martin and Sue and Dean drive past my house on the way to practically anywhere, it is normally them who pick me up. But I wanted to be the one to make the effort for a change. Martin would be a bit late, so I took my little Corsa rally-riding to Sue and Dean's house. I had only ever gone there by bike or on foot. It made it! But I had to acknowledge it's not a sinecure. 

We loaded up, including garden chairs, and we set off. And even with this heavier load the little car made it! But when we got to where we would park for our lakeside barbecue, we found Tom and Siobhan who said that there was an event going on, and it was busy. Maybe we should just have the barbecue in their back garden instead. In a way I was disappointed; it has been a hot day, and I had come out of a meeting at work, jumped on my bike, rode home via the shop, got my bag ready, and jumped into the car. No time for a shower! I thought that would be okay given that I had anticipated a swim in the lake. But now there would be no swim… I felt a bit self-conscious. Biking over hills in sweltering weather has certain effects on someone's body odour! But nobody was complaining.

The cat also made an appearance. He is quite an independent type, and we don't tend to see much of him. But it seems that if he realises a barbecue is on the cards, he hangs around. Maybe there is something in it for him!

We had a very sophisticated barbecue with a fondue starter. It was really lovely in the back garden! We also had more traditional fare, and amazing potato salad. I had brought a whole bag full of beverages, and bananas and chocolate for afters. And I didn’t take any pictures.

It was a really nice evening! I don't know if it will be the last one with all six of us before Tom and Siobhan leave, but if it is, I think it was a worthy occasion. And we will think of them next time we do a social occasion with, inevitably, just the four of us!