The Great British Barbeque

The impromptu barbeques are always the best. After all you can't rely on the weather so you've got to go for it when you can. We've had some very memorable, spontaneous get togethers. We used to be like, over the fence, you bring the sausages, we've got the burgers, so and so's been to Asda for the wine...

One time we spent hours putting up a gazebo, ignoring the rain clouds and then ended up surfing through layers of mud with lightning cracking overhead to reach the safety of the house...

Lots of years ago we were sat chilling in the garden looking at the stars and listening to an 'Enigma' CD which featured monks chanting. It was most surreal yet relaxing. All of a sudden we heard the most horrendous noise. It was like a neighing cacophony of 'The Devil Rides Out'.

No one knew what on earth it was until we realized it was the baby's alarm clock - shaped like a rocking horse it was galloping along the bedroom windowsill at a cracking pace. It had decided to go off for no particular reason; scaring us all to death...It had never ever worked before then. Amazingly, the baby didn't even wake up...

As the kids grew older we used to stage 'water fights' and spend hours at the kitchen sink pumping up the water guns to poke through the hole in next door's gate and making water bombs out of balloons to throw across the fence. (This was the adults by the way - not the children)...

However, one of the most memorable barbies was a few years ago. We'd sat outside until the last possible moment until the damp got the better of us and the snails were starting to climb up the back door.

We decided to move into our conservatory and have a midnight snack as we'd eaten everything from the barbeque. My neighbour kindly made some sandwiches in her kitchen next door and then walked the short distance from her back garden path to ours, huge plate carefully balanced in front of her.

We were half way through the loaded plateful when someone realized their sandwich was moving...

It was full of earwigs. Probably fell off on route from hanging baskets or planters - or so my neighbour reckoned. Maybe she was in preparation for 'The Jungle - I'm a Celebrity get me out of here?' I don't know but a lot of wine was spilt that night. I've never seen people move so fast...

Strange, we don't seem to have had many get togethers lately...