Roni was up
early being entertained by the ever energetic squirrels of Tooting over a cup
of tea while she read a book before attempting further catch up on the journal
with some success. Bray emerged eventually and after getting clean, packing our
gear and chilling out for a bit we baked croissants for breakfast and had a
real coffee again – yum! Clare hadn’t emerged yet and we had guests coming so
hit the road – leaving Clare a wee pile of croissant and cheese scone with a
note.
On our way
to Tooting Broadway tube station we were waylaid by an op shop that turned out
to be a treasure trove! Bray finally found suits that fit him – two deluxe ones
for a grand total of less than 20 quid...plus a new cheese-cutter hat while
Roni snapped up some wintery gloves and such for a couple of quid. Awesome.
By now we
were really pushed for time so scampered
off to the tube and home in time to tidy up and unpack some of our gear before
Laura and Rawiri arrived. We were all a bit peckish by now so wandered up the
road to the Co-Op for dinner, next day and beverage supplies before hitting Sam’s for a chicken based late lunch
(after 4pm by the time we got home and ate it!). After catching up on
everyone’s Christmas celebrations and listening to music we moved on to cards
and beverages while taking turns to find old school tunes on YouTube.
A late
nibble of pizza and chips had to keep us going before heading to Roni’s
cousins’ place in Lambeth. The rain was coming down but we caught the tube and
had umbrellas so all was fine. On the tube the ‘umbrella game’ was born...and
so Bray had a lump on his head for NYE!
On arrival we
hugged cousins, shared stories and beverages before getting to know the
eclectic mix of people there until it was time to walk down to the Thames for
FIREWORKS – excitement!! (yes...mainly for Roni) The rain had stopped by this
stage so everyone was happy with that.
We four
ended up separated from the cousin-based crew apart from Lucas the Lithuanian
but saw the fantastic fireworks in with much cheering amidst the hordes. Roni
had borrowed a container of bubble mixture from the cousins so blew bubbles all
over the show – fun. Bray hugged a few randoms after the NY had arrived and we
learnt how to say ‘Happy New Year’ in Lithuanian before walking back to the
cousins’ place.
Here there
were more beverages, some pizza and numerous chats with a few games before we
decided to head home. The walk to another tube station was shared with Lucas
our Lithuanian and Ben the keyboard player. We got there eventually amidst the
hordes all heading out/heading home from the fireworks and made it safely home
to Maida Vale. Time then for bed/couch to sleep – a good night had by all!
