What fun we had today!
Instead of the usual sit down and eat in a restaurant, which, while fun, has been there, done there, got the T-shirt, and the whole freakin' wardrobe, written all over it in screamin', migraine-inducing neon ink, Ina quite wisely decided to mix it up a lot..... and so we found ourselves at Clovelly Bowling Club, a small, very old fashioned club perched on the cliffs with killer views out to sea, looked after by a man who seemed gruff at first, but turned out to be really warm and welcoming, play lawn bowls!
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| My gorgeous guy and Waz, getting a little friendly with the ball |
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| Lawn bowls with a killer view |
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| Peter readies himself to bowl |
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| My elegant motion did not usually result in elegant results, alas |
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| The birthday boy sends another ball to meet the jack |
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| Peter enjoying his Corona by the sea |
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| Bowling is a very technical business, as I an illustrates |
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| Bowl it Fahmi! |
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| The team I was on used black bowls which really didn't bring us much luck, or fabulous technique! |
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| Fahmi, my gorgeous guy and I |
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| Be one with the ball Waz... |
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| The gang holding their balls... lawn bowls balls that is, thank you |
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| The view from the bowling green.....magic! |
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| Waz, Ian and Peter |
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| The original gang of four |
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| Ian, Fahmi and Peter assessing some part of the game |
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| My baby celebrating a particualrly skillful bowl |
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| Ingo, Waz, Ian, Peter (back to camera) and my gorgeous guy, Steve |
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| Posing with as much enthusiasm as I could manage... alas it had no effect on my bowling ability |
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| The birthday boy, Ian, staring at the green...why I am not sure |
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| Waz getting ready to send one down the green |
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| My beautiful guy demonstrates the style that helped him and his team to victory |
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| Scoring was quite precise. You had to work out how many of which colour balls - we had brown and black - were closest to the white jack. The team with the closest ball got to count any of their balls that were close to the jack until they came across the next closest opposing team's ball. |
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| Yes a crass shot but it was the end of the day and I felt like being crass OK? |
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| It's Mickey Balls! |
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| The winning team standing in dignified silence |
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| Yes we lost but you wouldn't have known it! |
Yes the game my Granpa played. That old-fashioned game where balls trundle slowly down the well-manicured lawn while you try to land them as close to the small white jack as you can. I initially thought it may be a little slow and boring, but my gorgeous guy and the birthday boy, both convinced me it would be a hoot - and seriously if the word 'hoot', only one of my favourite ever, can be brought into the equation, then a fun activity it must be! - and while I vacillated between lawn bowls prodigy and lawn bowls village idiot (too much power alas so the ditch and I became firm friends; Fahmi meanwhile, to many jokes about how close he is to retirement, was consistently very good at it, helping his team win), I had a blast.
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| The birthday boy Ian and Ingo with my guy ordering drinks behind them |
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| Present opening time! Thsi was Peter's card and presennt ; we (Waz, my guy and I) gave him the full set of Carry On DVDs |
We all did, and while Peter grew a little tired of things around 4.30, we convinced him to keep playing till it got dark at 5 pm, our only regret they don't have neon-coloured balls, and disco lawn bowls....now that would be hoot-a-riffic on steroids my friends!
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| @ Mandala Nepalese restaurant - my guy, Peter and Waz |
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| Ian, Ingo and Fahmi |
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| My gorgeous guy and I - I got quite uncomfortable without a ball to brace myself but not even that could dim how lovely the place is. |
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| Beautiful roof decoration |
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| The gang at dinner - not sure why I look so portly - think the camera added 50 kgs to me! |
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| The food was sublimely delicious and this was my favourite dish - red kidney bean currt. YUM!! |
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| No back support? Simple fix - lean against each other....well done Ian and Ingo! |
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| The cake alight! |
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| Just gorgeous to look at and delicious - well done Peter! |
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| Ian holding his cake |
Our competitive spirit given a good run - Ian's team won (Fahmi, my gorgeous guy and him; the losers Waz, me, Peter and and Ingo) 15 to 2 - we had drinks in the club house, which was delightfully old-fashioned and stacked to the brim with club regulars who seemed very happy to be there - gave Ian his gifts (Waz, my guy and I gave him all 30 Carry On movies ina deluxe DVD box set), before setting off for dinner at Mandala Nepalese restaurant, where we sat on cushions (somewhat painfully at times it has to be said), and ate the most delicious food, that was far more Nepalese it seemed than the Nepalese we had my birthday on King Street. The service was also delightful. We finished off with a gluten free mud cake, topped with cream and raspberries that Peter made, and as result, waddled back to our cars for the trip home (Fahmi drove us all home since Waz, my guy and I had got a taxi there).....
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