When they were little we spent Saturday's standing round on the sideline watching our red-haired wonders whacking the hockey ball in the winter and batting and bowling on the cricket pitch in summer.
The hockey games were relatively short, though some times it would take a couple of hours to thaw out once the game was over.
I can recall 8am starts when there was ice on the water-based hockey turf.
Cricket was a much longer proposition. Their first games took about three hours (or a lot less depending on how soon the team got out or disposed of the opposition).
By the time they were midway through secondary school, the lads had reached their college's top teams. Hockey was a Friday night activity - even colder than the morning stuff. Cricket took up most of the day.
One of the rituals in First XI cricket is The Afternoon Tea. This was provided by the First XI mothers.
There is no point in making poncey miniature muffins, cucumber sandwiches or fancy gateaux for these afternoon teas. No matter if the other mothers "Oooooh" and "Aaaaaah" as you unveil your masterpiece. Boys like the savoury and the familiar. Robust sandwiches, hunks of pizza.
One of the retiring First XI mother's gave me a good piece of advice when the first of our sons joined the team.
"Make sausage rolls. You'll never have to take any home afterwards."
For about five years my cricket season Saturday ritual involved turning on the oven and pulling the package of commercial sausage rolls out of the freezer. By the time I had showered and dressed, the rolls had thawed enough to cut into individual servings and the oven was hot.
Out came the sausage roll basket, in went the paper napkin and then the freshly baked savouries. A ubiquitous bottle of tomato sauce (ketchup) and my contribution was ready.
Our boys' school cricket careers spanned about six years and I made some great friends in the cricket pavilion as we brewed tea, made cold drinks, served the afternoon sustenance, did the dishes and kept an eye on the game.
These days our reclaimed weekends often include a brunch at a local café. One of my favourite weekend nibbles is a collection of breads and dips.
One of the most common offerings is a dish of olive oil with a little balsamic vinegar in the middle.
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