You close your eyes for a moment and another week streaks by! What are the chances of that?
Happy Father’s Day and congratulations to all the fathers out there. Where would be without fathers?
We had a short but excellent visit with our good friends, Julie & Ian Leigh on Tuesday afternoon who found time on their crowded schedule to fit in a quick drive by. I worked for Julie at the IT Unit in Oxford for a couple of years and we shared some good memories of a number of really good things we managed to achieve. She and Ian immigrated to Australia some years ago – their children and grandchildren live there and they are now confirmed Aussies. It was great to see them both and interrogate our collective consciences and share gossip and rumours about former colleagues. We enjoyed seeing them enormously! (And Julie reads this so, once again, contact me for the full details).
I have been managing the fort single-handedly for a couple of days this week – Penny and her sister went to see a good friend in Fordingbridge in Hampshire and then on to see an old family friend on the Isle of Wight. Sadly, from her perspective, Daisy was forced to stay home with me – a bitter disappointment and one which she endured stoically, lying by the front door waiting for Penny to come home again. “Dad” is a barely acceptable alternative to Mummy’s care.
And speaking of Daisy, she had a visit to the vet on Wednesday to have a final check after her surgery last week. All good and she is fit and ready to go again.
We’ve got a busy couple of days ahead – we’re off on a little outing in the middle of the week and then we’ve got a handful of visitors due to arrive – what could be better than that?
We’re off on Wednesday to Dorchester in Dorset with our good friends the Waltons and Kelly-Browns for a few days. Thank goodness someone takes the initiative in organising all these wonderful excursions (it isn’t me!). We’ve been to Dorchester a couple of times before but generally just passing through. Lots of Thomas Hardy-related things to see and do plus this time I hope we make time to visit Corfe Castle, a magnificent ruin which we visited once very many years ago when the boys were relatively young. Another rotten old ruin I dragged them to, I guess.
Then, on Saturday, Ben & Brex-Anna arrive for a flying visit – they’re off to a wedding in Ireland and are dropping by here to get over the jet-lag before all the partying. Have they ever been to an Irish wedding? These things go on for weeks, I understand.
Then, early next week we are looking forward to welcoming one of my nieces and her two children for a quick overnighter. They are going to be in London for a week and we’re thoroughly flattered that they might want to come see us. Hmm, I might make those kids tromp around a couple of local rotten old ruins – we’ll see.
After that visit we have about a two-week window before the schools break up for the summer holidays and we’re hoping that we might get off in Chlamydia, the campervan, for a few days. Probably Yorkshire and then a couple of days exploring parts of Northumberland we didn’t visit on our last trip there. Hopefully, the weather will stay fine – fingers crossed.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister-in-law Pam who turns a bit older than she was yesterday, today.
And finally, a couple of more photos of Penelope’s flowers:
And finally, finally, how about this tip for a wasp-free barbeque?
As my sweetheart had an anaphylactic adventure the last time she came into close contact with a wasp, I am definitely going to employ this technique. Now, where can I find a small child?
Meanwhile, keep breathing, 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