Pinata Party
Weekends away with Miss W often produce unusual experiences, and last Saturday didn't disappoint. A country house party in the Lakes where, before a cheering audience, a sixty year old man was blindfolded, led into the garden and made to flog his donkey until it burst.
No, honest - it's true. There are photographs. I am awaiting one suitable for a family audience.
Sunday was great. We had a spiffing time crawling into old mines and so on, then a few miles around the Old Man, avoiding the usual crocodile of people trailing up to the summit. Great visibility too, so the views stretched over Morcambe Bay to the south and as far as the Pennines.
There was, as Miss W reminds me, a minor contretemps on the navigation front when we left the open country for footpaths over farmland. This was due to my unfamiliarity with Harvey's maps. How come that out in open country they mark every rock, boulder, wall and boundary, even telling you if it is in good repair or ruined, but as soon as you cross into 'farmland' (which to me seemed exactly the same rough pasture as before) not a single wall, fence or rock is marked? Not very helpful when trying to follow a non-waymarked path through fields and copses.
But we did it, albeit with my reduced navigational cred after having to retrace our steps for 500 yards.
Returning to Coniston - before the map ran out!
Then back for a great evening out at the Black Bull, who catered admirably for our party of sixteen - great beer as usual, and a very good dinner too. Somehow the Black Bull succeeds in catering for hundreds of visitors and remaining a good friendly pub - a difficult trick to pull off.
And what of the donkey flogger? Well, OK, I'll unmask him. His name is Rob, and it was his birthday weekend, arranged as a special surprise by his wife, Sally, and daughters Jenny, Bryony & Fiona. How they kept all this a secret for months I really don't know, but thanks to them for a wonderful gathering of old friends.
Happy sixtieth, Rob, and many more to come!
No donkey was harmed in the making of this celebration.
No, honest - it's true. There are photographs. I am awaiting one suitable for a family audience.
Sunday was great. We had a spiffing time crawling into old mines and so on, then a few miles around the Old Man, avoiding the usual crocodile of people trailing up to the summit. Great visibility too, so the views stretched over Morcambe Bay to the south and as far as the Pennines.
There was, as Miss W reminds me, a minor contretemps on the navigation front when we left the open country for footpaths over farmland. This was due to my unfamiliarity with Harvey's maps. How come that out in open country they mark every rock, boulder, wall and boundary, even telling you if it is in good repair or ruined, but as soon as you cross into 'farmland' (which to me seemed exactly the same rough pasture as before) not a single wall, fence or rock is marked? Not very helpful when trying to follow a non-waymarked path through fields and copses.
But we did it, albeit with my reduced navigational cred after having to retrace our steps for 500 yards.
Returning to Coniston - before the map ran out!Then back for a great evening out at the Black Bull, who catered admirably for our party of sixteen - great beer as usual, and a very good dinner too. Somehow the Black Bull succeeds in catering for hundreds of visitors and remaining a good friendly pub - a difficult trick to pull off.
And what of the donkey flogger? Well, OK, I'll unmask him. His name is Rob, and it was his birthday weekend, arranged as a special surprise by his wife, Sally, and daughters Jenny, Bryony & Fiona. How they kept all this a secret for months I really don't know, but thanks to them for a wonderful gathering of old friends.
Happy sixtieth, Rob, and many more to come!
No donkey was harmed in the making of this celebration.
posted by Phil at
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
4 Comments:
,...made to flog his donkey until it burst,
I have heard it all now...
No wonder Miss W gave you a good thrashing.
Being forced to flog your own donkey is much more interesting than having your donkey flogged for you....er...apparently....ahem....(koff)
This post explains why we couldn't reach any of you by phone last weekend, though I thought Rob wasn't 60 until August!
You are correct, Ali, Rob's birthday is in August. So it was even more of a surprise for him to have the party in July.
Sally had a stressful moment persuading Rob to leave home on Saturday afternoon without explaining why!
(Mike K - you know too much about this sort of thing...)
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