First BBQ of Summer

Forget swallows, its the first BBQ of the year that really signifies the beginning of Summer! We have had a properly summery weekend, which started on Friday with a trip up to Ely on Warrior to say bye to Jim and Sarah. I was able to come, but only if I got some work done so stayed below for most of the trip (bar a sunny stretch, sitting on the roof between Baits Bite and Bottisham). But there is no better way to work: sitting at a table watching the river go by from the window. It was an extremely productive few hours. Warrior is a speedy boat, so we were soon in Ely where we went to the Antiques shop and were tempted by various bits of Army surplus wear, but didn't actually spend anything. After saying our goodbyes we headed back to Cambridge on the train.

Saturday was brilliantly sunny, and full of rowing and relaxing with friends. We've now moved moorings again, to a spot near the Fort (yes, Kath was right, we wouldn't be happy until we were right next to the pub!). It's also between trees, so hopefully the shading will be less there for the solar panel, and we won't get any bird poo either! Lyra is thoroughly confused by all this moving about and hasn't regained the confidence she had when we were close to this spot before we went to Ely.

And then, in the evening, we decided to have our first BBQ of the year! Mike from Innocenti came over too, and we had sausages, salsa, and mushrooms, which were very tasty.

On Sunday, James was racing in the IV at the Bedford Head with (big) James and some other rowers. I, meanwhile, was learning to cox! I've never thought it was for me, and having done it once and been terrified, I didn't have high hopes. But this time, I was prepared (James having prepped me to just call 'easy' or 'hold it up' if all else failed, to stop the boat and then sort it out) and actually enjoyed it. I successfully negotiated a pair that was on the wrong side of the river, and made a good landing. I want to have another go now, and will be doing so tomorrow and Thursday! The one thing I was most worried about was remembering which side was which if I needed to call for a maneuvering stroke (strokeside and bowside are equivalent to port and starboard) so I wrote a big S and B on the correct hands, to help me out in a panic!

I am now a bit sunburnt, having spent 5 hours, from 11 til 4 in the sun, but it was great fun. We had dinner in a local Indian restaurant with some other rowers who'd also been racing at Bedford, which was a good way to end the weekend.

I've somehow managed not to take any pictures this weekend though, so here's a gratuitous cute cat photo:

Zzzzz... Pretty much how I felt after a weekend of fun in the sun!