Summery months mean a lot of things to people - beer gardens, BBQs, gardening, working on a tan...let's not forget car boot sales though! I lived in the States for 10 years so only recently (last 5 years or so) became familiar with what seems to be a pretty British pastime. Sure I've been to yard sales and thrift stores but the UK is the place where you get a load of people driving into a field in an organised manner and then laying their "wares" out on blankets, foldable tables and in our case, an improvised table made from our patio chairs and a long piece of wood covered in a sheet.
Car boot sales are generally a place where people go when they have a clear out at home although sometimes you find people who have small businesses - plants, home made crafts and let's not forget my favourite find - food! I felt like a very lucky girl when I found the American food table...
We managed to sell quite a lot of our things and when it reached 11.30 and the sun was getting seriously warm on my non-summer friendly skin we packed up - a box to take home, a box for the charity shop and a box for binning.
Next stop - pub! We went to the Three Blackbirds in Boxmoor for a hard earned pint and a pub lunch. As always I opted for the burger and Mr Jones went for a meat filled plate aka the all day breakfast!
Why did we choose this pub when there are others within walking distance to home? The fair! Carter's Steam Fair was set up on Boxmoor Common for the weekend so after our lunch we wandered down the road, met up with a friend and hit the stalls!
First up, the coconut shy! For anyone who isn't familiar with this, it's pretty much a load of coconuts sitting on cups on the end of sticks and the aim of the game is to throw balls at them. If you knock one off (or totally smash up then knock off) you get to keep it! Mr Jones was my hero and bagged me a coconut so no doubt there will be some coconut based recipe coming soon...
Next was the shooting range - somehow I managed to knock down 6 "men" with 4 pellets. Skills!
Like the big kids we are we had to go on the "Chair-o-Plane" which went surprisingly fast! A little sit down was needed to clear the dizzies and then the next stop!
Penny arcades are a classic feature of any fair or pleasure beach and are filled with penny falls, one armed bandits, grabbers and fortune tellers but I have never been in one that has old machines ran around looking at them all feeling like I'd hitched a lift back in time with Dr Who!
The final entertainment was going on the "dive bomber". Think two pods stuck on the end of a large stick and spun around quickly. The times I did stop screaming and opened my eyes all I could see was that I was rapidly heading face-first towards the ground and so the eyes were tightly shut for most of the ride!
The excitement, sun and early start were all catching up with us rapidly so decided that it was time to head home but it was a really excellent yet simple day out!
We managed to sell quite a lot of our things and when it reached 11.30 and the sun was getting seriously warm on my non-summer friendly skin we packed up - a box to take home, a box for the charity shop and a box for binning.
Next stop - pub! We went to the Three Blackbirds in Boxmoor for a hard earned pint and a pub lunch. As always I opted for the burger and Mr Jones went for a meat filled plate aka the all day breakfast!
Why did we choose this pub when there are others within walking distance to home? The fair! Carter's Steam Fair was set up on Boxmoor Common for the weekend so after our lunch we wandered down the road, met up with a friend and hit the stalls!
First up, the coconut shy! For anyone who isn't familiar with this, it's pretty much a load of coconuts sitting on cups on the end of sticks and the aim of the game is to throw balls at them. If you knock one off (or totally smash up then knock off) you get to keep it! Mr Jones was my hero and bagged me a coconut so no doubt there will be some coconut based recipe coming soon...
Next was the shooting range - somehow I managed to knock down 6 "men" with 4 pellets. Skills!
Like the big kids we are we had to go on the "Chair-o-Plane" which went surprisingly fast! A little sit down was needed to clear the dizzies and then the next stop!
Penny arcades are a classic feature of any fair or pleasure beach and are filled with penny falls, one armed bandits, grabbers and fortune tellers but I have never been in one that has old machines ran around looking at them all feeling like I'd hitched a lift back in time with Dr Who!
The final entertainment was going on the "dive bomber". Think two pods stuck on the end of a large stick and spun around quickly. The times I did stop screaming and opened my eyes all I could see was that I was rapidly heading face-first towards the ground and so the eyes were tightly shut for most of the ride!
The excitement, sun and early start were all catching up with us rapidly so decided that it was time to head home but it was a really excellent yet simple day out!
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