Barbecue at Botley WI Hall

As we had heavy rain last year for our Barbecue at Simon and Sarah’s House, and it had rained at the Barbecue the previous year as well, the committee decided to plan for all eventualities this year. We hired Botley W.I. Hall for the evening, which turned out to be a good decision.

Simon still proved his mettle as master of the barbecue, ably assisted by Chris, and wisely lent us one of his two new gazebos in case it was needed – it was!

We erected the gazebo and got the barbecue started before most members arrived, when – luckily – it was not too wet.

By the time hungry members started to arrive it was wet !

Luckily there was plenty of space for people inside – this picture was before most people arrived.

We carried on cooking burgers (meat on the left side of the barbecue), vegetarian kebabs (we kept the right hand side of the barbecue meat free), vegetarian sausages. Inside the W.I. Hall we were cooking Chicken, the non-vegetarian sausages and preparing salads, setting out buns for burgers and rolls for hot dogs, serving drinks etc. There were also a selection of cheesecakes and other deserts.

Unfortunately there are no pictures of this feast, and the next stage was loading the minibus, packing away the gazebo, clearing the kitchen, sweeping floors etc.

So that we could leave the W.I. Hall looking tidy.

Barbeque at Simon and Sarah’s

Although the weather started hot, as it had been for many weeks of uninterrupted sunshine, shortly after we started to eat our delicious burgers, it started to rain.

The rain was much heavier than last year, when we had to shelter from showers, and we abandoned the gazebos, and retreated indoors, filling Simon and Sarah’s flat to capacity. The chefs soldiered on under difficult conditions, and we enjoyed our meals, in rather cosy conditions.

Barbecue at Simon and Sarah's

Simon and Sarah kindly invited us to a barbecue at their house. Unfortunately the warmth of the weather did not match the warmth of the welcome, and we sheltered under gazebos from the showers.

We enjoyed burgers, chicken legs, hot dogs (and vegetarian options).

If you look at the right of the picture, you may recognise the keg of beer.
It came from the Captains Day at Hinksey Heights,
and this was a chance to put it to good use.

Barbecue at Simon and Sarah's house

Simon and Sarah made us very welcome at their barbecue, with tasty burgers, sausages, chicken, vegetarian sausages etc, as well as snacks, salads and drinks. Simon had put up two gazebos, and had an array of chairs, and some folding tables, as well as stringing lights round the garden to illuminate the scene as darkness fell.
As we are now into the holiday season quite a few people were away, but the 16 who were there enjoyed getting together to eat and chat.
DSC00401This is towards the end when the remains of the food, and the grill have been packed away, but before the flurry of activity which sees gazebos, folding chairs and all the other essentials of an outdoor event packed neatly and stored, TARDIS-like in Simon’s shed.
Oxford Phab is now on a summer break, but we look forward to getting together again in September.