It’s been a decent enough week – what are the chances of that? The weather has been tolerably decent – mainly dry and sunny, just the occasional overcast day with a bit of rain. Fair bit of wind, though, gusty and blustery. Having said that, yesterday it rained more or less all day!
On Sunday (last week) we had a magnificent family picnic at the Northampton Balloon Festival. This is an annual event at the old racecourse which is a combination of a fun fair with all the usual rides and entertainment and the inflation and launching of up to a dozen or so hot air balloons.
Penny decided, in consultation with Adam and her brother Jeremy, to organise a gigantic family picnic. Adam, Ava, Ava’s parents and the two girls joined Penny & me, her brother Jeremy and his wife and two of their three children (Nat and Jake) with their respective partners and, in Nat and Hannah’s case, their three young children. Nick, Lucy and Annabelle decided, on the spur of the moment, to join us as well – there were twenty of us all told. Oh, and I almost forgot about Adam and Ava’s friends from London, Matt and Jenny. Good job that just about everyone brought enough food for thirty!
Jessie, some of you may remember, is a real adrenalin junkie and is always keen to go on the scariest, most stomach-churning rides available, preferably the higher the better. As she is too short to go on many of the rides herself, the main problem is finding an adult who is willing to accompany her. My stomach-churning, wild ride days are long behind me but fortunately Adam was willing. She had a blast.
Thank you to those who spotted that the Upcoming Events section of the Moreton Pinkney Picayune was looking a bit sparse recently. Some very important upcoming events did not seem to be listed. WTF? Personally, I think the Upcoming Events Editor should be sacked but we’ve not been able to recruit a suitable replacement. Not to worry, I’ve fixed it (I think) – do please let me know if anything else is amiss.
Friday morning Adam came over to finish fixing the cedar shingles to the garden shed roof. You will remember that he started but construction was halted due to wasp stings. The wasps are no longer a hindrance and he finished the job in no time. I am thinking I could list this on AirBnB as well as the grandchildren’s play house in the orchard at the top of the garden. A bit cramped perhaps?
As it happens, Nick arrived as well on Friday morning to collect various items for his camping weekend away. He, Lucy and Annabelle are off for the weekend to Pembrokeshire in the camper van. As it happens, Thursday was his and Lucy’s wedding anniversary. Boy, does he know how to show his girls a good time – camping in what will almost certainly be a wet and windy Wales for an anniversary celebration.
You will all be pleased to know that I have finally finished my Atlantic Coast virtual bike ride. It’s taken me more than a year what with holidays and sciatica interrupting the daily cycle. I “departed” Bar Harbor, Maine on 16 June last year and have pedalled a mere 4161 km (2586 miles) since then. Longer than I had imagined it might take me!
I’ve already decided on my next virtual adventure – I ran across an article describing an “iconic” bike ride from Dubrovnik in Croatia to Istanbul and thought, “That will do.” There is a company offering this same ride – twenty days it takes them to do the whole route. I think it might take me a bit longer than that.
And finally, Happy Birthday to my father who would have been 101 tomorrow. A remarkable and splendid man, all of whose children turned out to be remarkably splendid themselves.
Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, keep exercising, be good, be careful, and keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees – we need all the pollinators we can get.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg