First Thing,

we were out,

it was Diana's day off,

and we had decided on an in park bar-b-q,

it was a tad overcast but was supposed to be clear skies later,

on the railings a number of things to do over the summer months,

it looked like we had the park to ourselves,

we made our way towards the bar-b-q area,

passing the courtyard,

and the mulberry tree,

and continued down to the lake,

arriving there it was nice to see that,

all of the builders fencing had been taken down,

so everybody had a clear view of the lake, which today was closed, it is only open at the weekends when a lifeguard is on duty,

one of the waterfowl with a youngster,

as I was taking photographs Diana got ahead of me,

and had grabbed a table with benches and was snapping away,

as I made my way towards her,

all sorted,

in the week I had popped into Sainsburys and bought one of these,

a small disposable bar-b-q,

I had used them before many, many years ago before I moved to Thailand,

just lite the paper,

and wait for the treated paper to ignite the charcoal,

meanwhile, a bottle of bubbly,

the paper seemed to be doing what it was supposed to do,

1-2-3,

out with the cork,

and pour,

'Cheers!',

all we had to do now was wait,

the instructions said that it would take up to 20 minutes for the flames to die down, then to start cooking the food,

it seemed to be working,

what a feast!

many thanks to Rainham Steve for the picnic basket,

any minute now,

and it will be time to start cooking,

another 'Cheers!',

as it happens,

the few people that were here when we arrived had left,

we had,

all of the bar-b-q area to ourselves,

not a soul in sight,

the charcoal all set to start cooking,

which I left to Diana,

the bar-b-q just the right size,

Diana was so happy it all worked, we tried one of these last year and it was a total failure,

I had bought it the year before and I guess the solvent that the paper was treated with had evaporated over the winter,

but this one was new from this week,

Diana just had to try a small piece of chicken,

nearly done, Diana had bought chicken breast, Cumberland sausages, lamb kebabs and chicken on a stick,

time to serve the food,

it was all looking good,

just do not drop anything on the floor, to late!

we had brought our small speaker with us, and as there was no one else here listened to music,

the bar-b-q was still working, so Diana put some more chicken on, we also used it to keep a few things warm,

time to tuck in,

yet another 'Cheers!',

Diana had made a spring salad and added fresh lemon juice to it, delicious! we also had coleslaw and a potato salad,

eyes down and tuck in,

a very happy Diana,

who also had a treat, in the form of a slushy drink,

which had to be squeezed from the tube,

it was 4% alcohol,

a 'Cheers!' from Diana,

for dessert a selection of cheeses and biscuits,

also by now it was so warm it was jacket off time, the promised sun had arrived,

also for dessert cherries, grapes and sliced pears,

all of this did not go unnoticed by the crows,

it may have been the same three that visit us at home, there was a mum and dad and a youngster, despite its size still begging the parents for food,

we stayed until late after noon before making a move home,

past the lake with hardly a cloud in the sky,

the hollyhocks,

putting on a good show,

what a lovely day,

as we left a quick look around, and not a soul as far as I could see in the park,

arriving home,

great news from the Philippines,

it was Donnas birthday,

one of Diana's younger sisters,

so it was party time! for us it was feet up for a Midsomer Murder, a New Tricks and a Silent Wittnes before we were off to bed.