Hat parade

This morning, we, more-or-less, repeated last night's Island Line ride, getting off the train at Sandown. Today was another event, the return of Sandown's Hat Parade. We had a lot of fun last year and decided to see what was different this year.

We started our Sandown day with lunch at The Reef: my fish finger sandwich was deliciously off-diet. Later, we walked along the seafront for a while until we took a position on the sand near the roped-off arena while, out at sea, the RNLI lifeboats were parading as part of their fund-raising efforts.

The first 'hat parade' became known as 'the big hats'. Some were on display last year, like the ice cream cone and newspaper hats. This year, a wonderfully ornate chicken's head, a 'Sandown is my cup of tea', something that looked like a birdcage on a pirate hat, and a 'pigeon eating fish and chips' were all new creations. The chip-eating bird won overall, but I did like the chicken head.

The little children followed with equally creative - if considerably smaller - hats. It's all over in half an hour. I don't know what amuses me, but I think the community spirit that goes into the hats is lovely. Long may it continue.

By 7:10pm, I was heading home on the platform at Portsmouth Harbour. PY is staying as the carpenter is coming tomorrow to work on the door (and hopefully quote for some other minor fixes we need). I watched the second part of "Death In Paradise" on the train, so now I know who did it.

When I got home, I caught the end of the Olympic closing ceremony. PY said it wasn't great, but I tuned in for a musical section, which was great. However, the handover concert from an LA beach seems unnecessarily long (they will get their turn in four years).