Day 3-4 Sausages and Ring Toss

Once again, taken from The Palmer Project as I am lazy from writing up all these past days of the East Coast Trip.
http://the-palmer-project.blogspot.com/2007/08/house-guests.html

The house had another Palmer in it, as cousin Ryan and his girlfriend Vero stayed with us for a few days on their vacation. After the great concert and late night the day before, we started our day late. A tour of the city was in order to show them around as they had never been to London before. We stopped by T.J. Baxters for lunch and sat on the roof while we ate. (London is actually a beautiful city and it seems really wealthy (although this may be biased judging from our tour in the better parts of the area. Western University was amazing campus.)

Next we introduced the couple to our favorite outdoor game Texas Horseshoes (aka Ring Toss). It didn’t take them long to get the hang of it. We played in teams with the guys against the girls. I’m happy to say the male team of Palmer & Palmer dominated every game against the women. They received a down home ass whooping!!!! (Let us also point out that we were not impressed when Vero decided to cut off our heads in a picture of the two champions! Let us also point out that Troy managed to sack himself with his chair when it hit the fence on his way out. The man was in pain while I was in stitches.)

We worked up an appetite so we headed down to Chaucers Pub for some fine grub and beer. The sausage platter is one of my favorites, and Ryan really enjoyed his. Three sausages, sauerkraut, cabbage, and potatoes. We were stuffed at the end. The ladies on the other hand enjoyed mushroom stuffed chicken. Chaucers offers approximately 90 plus different beers from around the world, so Ryan and I took a look at the “Beer Bible” to decide on our beverage of choice. After a few beers and a great dinner it was back to “Casa Palmer” where Ryan and I broke out the guitars and sang a bunch of tunes while recording the session. (The sausage platter is still on my mind to this day and I want to go back. They had this amazing mustard concoction. The Beer Bible is comparable to the one at Pub Italia in Ottawa. Very nice descpriptions. I’m glad that I introduced Troy to some excellent beers such as Paulaner. He introduced me to a Scottish beer which was aged in oak barrels. I must admit the first two sips had me wondering but after that I really enjoyed it and actually wanted another. Reminded of scotch. Speaking of scotch, I consider Troy my mentor in scotch as I haven’t had much experience drinking it outside of with him and Rick. I must admit that I’m still at the novice stage of drinking it and have to learn to appreciate the taste. After my second drink I was at that stage.)

The following day we had some breakfast then Connie and Vero sat outside reading and enjoying the weather. (Excellent breakfast at the Little Beaver!) It was a good opportunity for Ryan and I to head into the music room and record a song. Ryan brought out an original that he wrote, and before too long we had bass, guitar, and vocal tracks recorded. We spent the next hour trying to come up with an appropriate drum track for the song. (This was the infamous recording session of ‘The Stomper’, coming to a CD player near you soon! I was impressed with Troy’s recording outfit and am jealous that his system has built in drum effects. I’m actually thinking of selling my Fostex off to get a system comparable to his. I was having a good laugh at Troy trying to nail the harmonies at the beginning but then he found the right voicing and let ‘er wail.) The ladies were getting fed up with hearing it over and over again, so the timing was right when we stopped to get ready for more friends coming over for a BBQ.

Our friends, Shannon, Jay & Heather joined us for an afternoon of intense Texas Horseshoe games. After kicking some ass with Ryan as my partner I fired up the BBQ and fed the hungry gamers. We finished off the evening by watching the DVD “The Life & Hard Times of Guy Terrifico”. I thought Ryan and Vero were going to piss their pants a few times as they were laughing so hard during the movie!! (Always good to see Shannon, Jay & Heather as they are good times. Guy Terrifico is the must see movie of the year. It reminded me HEAVILY of the FUBAR style of film. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s by the same director.)

It was great to have our two house guests join us for a few days. I guess it’s our turn now to head to Ottawa to visit them.

(Vero and I send out a heartfelt thanks for putting up with us for a few days. Very nice of the two of you and we give you guys 5 stars! Well, Vero wanted to give you 5 stars but I was more on the 3.5 star side as chocolate isn’t really my thing, you know?)