The Old Gaffers

What a brilliant day we had yesterday. After calling in at the opticians to order new lenses for my glasses & doing the weekly shop at Tesco, we drove to Yarmouth to the Old Gaffers Festival. We'd never been before. The weather was hot & sunny & the drive through the countryside was brilliant. You forget just how beautiful the Isle of Wight is until you get off the beaten track. We saw a life size Mr Fox sat on a chair at the end of someone's drive, a Trap being pulled by a couple of Shire horses and signs that said 'scarecrows' which I'm sorry to say, we didn't follow.

We parked in a 'park & ride' field just outside Yarmouth & caught an old open top bus into the town.

A very nice man offered to take a photo of me & Andrew

We looked around all the plant & food stalls on the way to the boats (the gaffers)

The flags were all really colourful

And while we watched the inshore lifeboat rescue

we could here Spanish type music coming from the marquee.

The atmosphere was great. We treated ourselves to drinks & a Jerk Chicken Patty from an African Caribbean stall.We looked around the old part of the town

and saw loads of people dressed up for the occasion.

Everyone was having a really good time

We met some friends who live in Yarmouth, Mick & Sue and went back to their house for a cup of tea. They asked if we wanted to take the dogs for a walk with them. We walked through the marshes & into the Copse to see the wild orchids and back along the river.

In the evening we went over to Ryde Castle to Kate & Mark's wedding (Andrew works with Steve, Kate's Dad). Had a lovely time even though we didn't know many people there.

Last but not least Andrew became a great Uncle for the first time yesterday! Lorna & Craig had a little boy or should I say not so little at 9lbs 1oz!! They are all doing well (being updated via facebook) but they haven't named him yet ... watch this space :O)