Summer’s end – first fire

I don’t know if it was the last barbecue of the summer, it may or may not have been, but it was certainly the first outdoor fire of the year.

Monday was beautiful. Warm and still, blue skies and sparkling seas – but as evening approached the temperature dropped and there was a definite autumn chill to the air. Barbecue planned, there was only one thing for it.

Our old cast iron chiminea hasn’t been used this year, or last year, or the year before that, come to that – but we decided to give it an outing on Monday evening down at the bottom of the garden where we sometimes sit in the evening sun.

‘Old Faithful’ caught first time and, fed by broken chunks of old shed, was soon blazing. The heat it gave out was fierce and that, along with a very nice dry cider and some Lincolnshire sausages that were actually from Lincolnshire, soon warmed the chill from the evening air.

As darkness fell and the stars came out in the clearest of skies we decided that we should light ‘Old Faithful’ more often. So maybe it isn’t the last barbecue of the year after all - perhaps we’ll carry on barbecuing throughout the autumn and beyond.

Sometimes rediscovering the value of a thing is a joy, it’s all too easy to forget the things we really love.