Saturday 12th July was such a wonderful day which started with me waking up cold at 7am – I was still on Turkish time. I got weighed on the bathroom scales, more as a benchmark to see what I weighed on those scales and to track while I was in the UK. The scales said I was 1.3kg (2.9lb) lighter than I had been on Carol’s scales last Wednesday.
That meant I was only 1.1kg (2.4lb) over target and I knew that I was going to be enjoying quite a few treats that weren’t Slimming World friendly while I was in England. Captain Caveman made me bacon sandwiches for breakfast and I had a cup of tea. Shockingly, it wasn’t Yorkshire tea but I still drank it. We had a trip out to the Farmer’s Market and the supermarket where I got my first glimpse of a couple of things; 1) how expensive things were going to be compared to Dalyan and 2) how much more choice there would be available to me. Here’s what we bought with the prices in pounds;
Farmers Market
1 Black pudding
1 Sausage roll
1 Scotch Egg
1 Pork Belly
Total spent £15
M&S
Milk 0.75
1 bag of salad 1.70
Cream cheese 2.50
Sourdough 2.65
Shropshire blue cheese 2.75
2 Avocados 3.70
Red Leicester cheese 3.80
250g Raspberries 3.90
Total spent £21.75
Today was an important date in the Barnes calendar as it was the day of the Barnes Fair. We’d planned my trip especially so that I could experience it for the first time. Luckily, I had arrived in the heatwave of England as all of my UK friends had been warning me about. I’d only brought summer clothes, sandals and flipflops with high expectations of enjoying the English summer while escaping the heat in Dalyan.
By 1pm we had started to browse the stalls of the fantastic Barnes Fair and I had spotted a Zebra stool that I thought would make a great present for a friend, who’s birthday BBQ we were going to next weekend. We ummed and ahhed about the logistics of taking it on a train and whether it would even fit with their design of the new house and decided to leave it for now.
We wandered round the various stalls which were really good but I was conscious not to buy anything I didn’t need. We did stumble upon a gift that was easier to carry and bought artisan chilli jam products from a lovely lady at Chilli Porter. While Captain Caveman took the stuff back to the house, I perused the list of stalls and took a photo of the map in case I got lost. I spoke to one of the organisers and volunteered Captain Caveman for the hold a plank competition. Upon his return, Captain Caveman was not up for the competition and we went off to the Sun Inn pub for a lunchtime beverage. Here 2 pints were £15 and everything was being served in plastic cups because of the event. We shared a table with a few interesting people and the atmosphere was very nice.
Back home, I posted some photos on the family WhatsApp group as I was so impressed with the fair. It was very warm for London and we had a bite to eat, some water and some raspberries at home. I then fell asleep on the sofa (perhaps from too much excitement)!
At 5pm, Captain Caveman woke me up and we went back to Barnes Fair for another look around. We wanted to find certain stalls on our list and end at the Brown Dog. We didn’t find the Brown Dog stall so settled for the Wimbledon Brewery one. I chose a glass of pink fizz for £8.50 but they didn’t have any left. There was champagne for £11 but I was reluctant to pay that much to drink it from a plastic flute, so I didn’t bother. Captain Caveman ordered a pint of SW19 for £7.50 and had to pay an extra £2 for the plastic cup deposit. I was a bit shocked by this and even more surprised when they couldn’t give the refund at the end as they had no process in place. It was getting a bit busy, lots of families with prams and dogs and it was actually a bit sweaty.
We decided to stroll round to the Coach and Horses for a pint, still £14 for 2, but served with a better service, a friendlier attitude and an apology for their plastic cups. Next, we wandered round to the Brown Dog where it was only £12 for 2 pints, in glasses, and I had a rhubarb beer which was great.
Back home, Captain Caveman made pasta for dinner, which should have been last night’s meal. It was good but I was so tired that as soon as I got on the sofa, I fell asleep.
Gratitude List
1. Barnes Fair
2. Sunny England
3. Having fun with Captain Caveman.
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