After a long Friday at work, I stopped by Borough Market after lunch and picked up a mix of meats for a braai at home - everything from mint & garlic lamb burgers, to wild fennel cured salami as well as a mix of wild boar and red-spicy-dragon pork sausages. A fairly interesting combo. Haig was in town for the weekend, so Stu came over, as did Paul and Carol, so there must've been about 9 of us for braai - and can definitely consider it one of the better one's we've had at home. Plus the evening was perfectly suited for being outdoors.

Then on Saturday was the big Epsom Derby Day, which is Britain's richest horse race, and the most prestigious of the country's five Classics. We, however, didn't quite live up to those expectations, and instead opted for The Hill which offers free views of the racing and is located in the middle of track, famous for its relaxed party atmosphere. A few of the guys got there first thing in the morning to set up camp, with gazebo, picnic blankets and cooler boxes, ready for the day's action.

The weather was perfect for the day's races. There were various bets been thrown down, and my luck came in nicely on the main derby where I had money on Pour Moi (which won) and the Queen's horse Carlton House (which came in third). So fairly lucky there, even though my winnings weren't exactly close to even being a small fortune. And then I lost it all on the next race. Oh well.

It was a long day out on the hill, but a good fun crowd again like last year. The train ride home was a complete joke, with a fight starting on ours in the adjacent carriage, forcing the train to stop and that made some idiots people think it would be a great idea to leave the train and cross over the live rails - all while we stood and waited for the transport police to arrive. Not fun at all. Eventually after over an hour of that we got going again and back into London, finally making our way to Project Orange in Clapham Junction.

After the evening at Project Orange and the continuation back at ours, yesterday morning started off with a necessary full English breakfast down at Cappuccino's, followed by a walk down the high street, over the bridge and back again, a walk and fresh air was just what the doctor ordered. Haig then headed off down south for the week, and I made my way out east to Mile End for the third of our Come Dine lunches which was alright. It poured down later on in the day, but can't really complain with the good weather on Friday for the braai and again on Derby Day, and then yesterday being a slow, indoor day with everyone taking it fairly easy. So yet again another successful Derby weekend!