Bedford. June 26

 

This story, as all good stories must, begins with an impulse purchase from ebay. See the above impulse-buy. Rob has bragged about this stove to Nic and I for some time - at least 3 months. It is over a year old and, until yesterday, unused. We christened it yesterday in a blaze of glory and a gulf of flames - and some chicken and sausage.

All of Rob's kids (James, Andrew, and Oliver) were home, Oliver's gf attended, and Granny. There was some confusion at the commencement of the barbeque due to the fashionably late attendance of all parties - primarily Nic and myself. You see, we went on a walk at Priory Park. This walk led to a walk around town and some fish-gazing. We were then exhausted and had to stop at a pub on the way home. 

 

There is just a wee 800 year old wall in the middle of town functioning as a wall. There is not even a museum dedicated to its existence. It's just hanging out being a wall. 

See? Good English beer! It was 70 degrees yesterday. Nic probably was verging on heat stroke. He definitely needed a beer before setting into serious barbeque tasks.

So, you can see that we left Rob to manage the barbeque alone, which he actually did smashingly. He marinated chicken, squid, eggplant, courchette, and pineapple. We arrived just in time to realize Granny was missing. But she is an independent sort, and we were all assured that she had written down her dinner date in her diary (Nic was in charge of this task), so she would certainly not forget. I was concerned and went out several times to peer down the street, she lives 4 doors down, but saw no sign of her or her buggy. 

Folks got busy with the barbeque, the lighting, the heating, the debating about its functions and lack thereof, the wondering and pondering about how much wood to put in vs coals. Then there was questions about the efficacy of the oven vs. the barbeque.

And still no Granny.

It is somewhat unclear if Granny knows who I am and I was not about to go get Granny alone. A wild American woman breaking and entering into the home of an innocent, elderly English woman was not the way I wanted to be recorded in the diary. 

So we waited. Until the boys went to check on Granny, which was good because there was some confusion (I admit, I suspected as much), and then Granny arrived.

And the barbeque commenced.

Let the record hold that I thought this barbeque was great. Rob is an excellent chef, and Nic is an almost equally good sous chef. A very good time was had by all, complete with teasing, and laughing, and planning for another trip to London (Stay tuned).

It was a seriously good barbeque. If you happen to see a rare barbeque grill on ebay made from tire rims in the UK posted in the next few days it may or may not be related to this event. I plead the 5th.