The day started damp - drizzly and dull. We had been the day before to the terrain to prepare for the Regional Mixed Pairs Competition – raking, stringing and general tidying up. Today we got to the Boulodrome and put out the scoreboards and rings and got the 'control table' etc, ready for the arrival of the 12 pairs, all the time hoping the weather would improve. Thankfully, it did stop raining, but the day remained mostly overcast.
Play started at about 9.45 with a brief chat by the Games Organiser who handed out our play sheets. My partner and I met another team from Petanque Wallingford first and I am sad to say we lost! Not dreadfully, but we lost. In fact we only won one game over the whole day.
During the day a self-appointed mascot arrived to entertain everyone – an African Grey parrot. It started off sitting on the roller. Tony, one of the players was eating an apple, so he gave it some and it was obviously hungry – it devoured the apple, so Tony gave it some more till it flew off to the other side of the terrain. No one was eating anything there so it came back and sat on Laura's shoulder! I was playing so I couldn't get the camera out and it wouldn't get off so Laura had to play with the bird sitting on her shoulder! It did eventually leave her and flew to the table where it promptly set about trying to demolish the bags etc. Gerry went down to the supermarket and got it an apple and some nuts (brazil, ready-shelled unfortunately) to keep it quiet while we went for lunch. Hoping it wouldn't fly away before we got back because we had phoned the RSPB to come and help catch it. But the 'emergency' number was also on voicemail – 'emergency'? What's the use of that.
After lunch we played two more games watched by the bird whom we had called Jeremy because it got animated when we said 'Jeremy'. By this time Jeremy had decided to try his foot at scorekeeping, but ended up demolishing the pen!
Play started at about 9.45 with a brief chat by the Games Organiser who handed out our play sheets. My partner and I met another team from Petanque Wallingford first and I am sad to say we lost! Not dreadfully, but we lost. In fact we only won one game over the whole day.
During the day a self-appointed mascot arrived to entertain everyone – an African Grey parrot. It started off sitting on the roller. Tony, one of the players was eating an apple, so he gave it some and it was obviously hungry – it devoured the apple, so Tony gave it some more till it flew off to the other side of the terrain. No one was eating anything there so it came back and sat on Laura's shoulder! I was playing so I couldn't get the camera out and it wouldn't get off so Laura had to play with the bird sitting on her shoulder! It did eventually leave her and flew to the table where it promptly set about trying to demolish the bags etc. Gerry went down to the supermarket and got it an apple and some nuts (brazil, ready-shelled unfortunately) to keep it quiet while we went for lunch. Hoping it wouldn't fly away before we got back because we had phoned the RSPB to come and help catch it. But the 'emergency' number was also on voicemail – 'emergency'? What's the use of that.
After lunch we played two more games watched by the bird whom we had called Jeremy because it got animated when we said 'Jeremy'. By this time Jeremy had decided to try his foot at scorekeeping, but ended up demolishing the pen!
The eventual play off for First and Second places was between Twiglets and The Bozos and Les Rouges from Petanque Wallingford and The Doorknobs. First place was taken by Bozos (Won 5 games) and Second by The Twiglets (Won 4 games). However, we all had a lovely time and by the end of the day the Sun had come out.
Jeremy, having destroyed the pen, cleared the table of bags and trying to open various containers, flew up into the tree for a well earned rest. So we left him some nuts, packed up and came home.
At home we managed to find where the owner lived because an article had been published in the local newspaper and put up on the Internet in which we discovered this bird had 'escaped' before, in April! But by the time we got back to the Boulodrome with the owner, the bird had flown (having eaten the nuts) and is now still 'at large'. However we did discover that the bird is called Donna; so it's a she. Perhaps she will come back to play with us on Tuesday morning. We will supply an update if she does come back.
At home we managed to find where the owner lived because an article had been published in the local newspaper and put up on the Internet in which we discovered this bird had 'escaped' before, in April! But by the time we got back to the Boulodrome with the owner, the bird had flown (having eaten the nuts) and is now still 'at large'. However we did discover that the bird is called Donna; so it's a she. Perhaps she will come back to play with us on Tuesday morning. We will supply an update if she does come back.
