Wandergliding: Settlers, Boot Fairs & Parrots Playing Pool

The taxi arrived at 6am to take the St. Croixs to Heathrow on Saturday, April 10th. It was sad to see them go as we had had a great visit. After a few more hours lie in, Shirley, Sid and I got on the road to drive back to Aldershot (yes, back and forth, back and forth). Back at Sid and Son’s, we opted to go out for a drink at Brewer’s Fair pub which was next to the hotel that Sarah and Brad stayed at in order to be able to sit outside and then hit Tesco’s for some groceries on the way back. We ended up buying a fair amount of food and beverages but with four of us, we were able to make it back. That evening we played Settlers of Catan, a fun board game (or kind of board game). Shirley did eventually get the hang of it but it probably didn’t help that we’d all had some drinks by that point.

Playing Settlers of Catan:

Auntie Shirley left the next morning back to Weymouth while Sid, Son and I headed off to a Sunday morning boot fair. I hadn’t experienced one of these yet. In a parking lot, people drive their cars in, open their boots (trunks) and flog anything and everything. It cost a mere 30p (50 cents) to get in although those selling their “booty” pay 6-7 pounds. The main thing that we were on the hunt for was a putter to add to Sonia’s golf club set and we did find one that only cost £1.50! Good deal. It was fun walking around and checking out the myriad of items up for sale...one man’s junk is another man’s treasure!

That Sunday afternoon we walked to a pub near where Sid, Sonia, Dave & Claire used to live together. Dave and Claire just got engaged so congratulations were in order. We went to this specific pub as another friend of theirs, Laura, was taking on a 12 hour ‘pool-a-thon’ to raise money for a kids’ charity. She was dressed up like a parrot and the deal was that if you lost your game against her, she would perform a special parrot dance for you. We stood out on the patio for a bit, enjoying the sun and then Sid took on the parrot. It was looking good for him at first but then Laura caught up only to sink the cue ball while sinking the 8...the dance was on! After the pub, we wandered across the road where there was a playground and we all got a bit juvenile for a bit. Some of the spinning contraptions seemed kind of dangerous actually (at least for a group that had just been in the pub for a few hours!). Sid’s still sporting a bruise a week later that he got on his upper arm that to holding on to tight while being spun! Following that session, Claire and Dave later came over for dinner, some Wii dancing and archa-wii (nice one Claire) and thanks Sonia for a lovely risotto! Another fun Sunday in England!