On Saturday I had a bunch of friends over for a BBQ at the house. After getting up a 6am and dealing with clients in the morning and pushing them off the dock I finally got stuck into building the retaining wall around the patio and just made it to the dump in time for 4pm. Then off to costco and back to clean up the patio before the BBQ. Everyone brought really nice salads, appetizers and desserts. I threw some marinaded lamb, cooked salmon on a cedar plank, put a dry rub on beef short ribs and grilled some bell peppers, asparagus, portabellos and cherry toms. For a California party it went on late which means everyone had fun.

The BBQ was really fun – it was great catching up with everyone. My friend James brought a fire pit which was needed as it was cold and foggy – I managed to have a BBQ on the coldest night in a long time. However, with a jib strung up stopping the dew and the fire pit and patio heater going life wasn’t too bad. What was missing was lighting – it was a bit of a mystery as to what one was eating. The candles wouldn’t stay lit and the latern wasn’t charged enough. So I went to Home Depot today to get the necessary materials for a full lighting system for my next BBQ in a few weeks.

I woke up a little groggy on Sunday morning again early as I had work to do before etchells racing on the bay. I haven’t sailed etchells in a while and was reminded of how wet it gets on a flat day on the circle.

Hope you had a good weekend.