Category: Uncategorized

The Athenians seem to like a queue. At least, that was the impression they gave me at the airport on my way home from ‘me hols’ last week. First queue, of course, was to check my bag in. What a muddle. Priority line, or non-priority line? There was no difference. The customer service guy simply split the very large queue down the middle, whereupon I found myself in the queue into which every disabled passenger forged through to the head of it as they arrived.

One and a half hours later, I was finally through – Graham and Gail were shocked. They’d whizzed through their bag check-in, no problem. Ha! Ha! They were boarding their plane!

I wasn’t. There were no queues at the security desk or the passport desk but, guess what? There was definitely a queue at the gate, which turned out to be a twenty-five minute walk away from passport control. A really lovely lounge area with lots of seats, but nah!! They didn’t want to let the passengers in. Queue, queue, queue to even get into the lounge area, with boarding passes and passports to be checked again here.

I took the easy option and sat in the general lounge area to eat my sandwich until almost everyone was through – a good thirty-five minutes later. Not sure why we were herded in like sardines – because the plane was delayed, of course.

Apparently, Graham and Gail’s plane was delayed too, despite them being on it, which meant that they missed their connecting flight to Sri Lanka. Next flight? 2.20 a.m. Eeeeesh.

Before I noticed the inclination for the Athenians to insist on a queue however, Graham, Gail and I had had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Greece. Plenty to see and enjoy, despite one or two hiccups at The Moxy Hotel, like the thumpy-thump ‘musak’; no daylight in the rooms and no view; and disappointingly, no pool or sauna. Graham nicknamed the hotel: ‘The Poxy Hotel’………. I mean, the view from our rooms was a wall. Pretty enough, but not exactly what we’d been hoping hoping for – hehe.

We had arrived at our final tourist destination of Athens via Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia. We had a minibus, with seven fellow travellers, which suited me far better than the bun-fight I thought we might have had on a 50-seater bus. It has to be said though, that in every beauty spot we stopped at, so did a leviathan cruise boat-load of other 50-seater coaches – and our elbows got sharper by the day.

But honestly, these were all very minor inconveniences during the time we had together. We got on well, enjoying each others’ company, we saw lots of interesting historical buildings, learned about the evolution of every country we visited and ate some fabulous food.

And the highlights of the holiday? Main one was meeting up with Graham and Gail, of course! It was wonderful to be in their company and they were as kind as kind, and as witty as witty, could be.

Our first day visiting Dubrovnik is worth a mention. We had taken a tour of the walled city and planned to take the cable car to the top of the hill afterwards, but gosh! The coachloads from the cruise ships were also waiting, so we abandoned the idea temporarily and took a boat to Lokrum Island in the bay. This is a nature reserve which was so tranquil that it blew our socks off. There were gardens, a monastery, caves, beaches (we had a paddle) and a fabulous inland dead sea lake – as well as the Game of Thrones throne…….lovely. I did sit in it to sample it and here’s the photo to prove it!

On our return to Dubrovnik we thought we’d check out the cable car again – and wow! No queues now, so we clambered in and went up to the Panorama Restaurant for the views, cocktails, a bite to eat and the sunset. Absolutely stunning. We loved it and felt like a million dollars.

We could see the walled town of Dubrovnik and Lokrum Island as we hit the heights; behind us there were mountains inland that framed the bay; and then, of course, there was the sunset. It was super.

The next day we set off for Kotor — another walled town, this time in Montenegro. It was incredibly crowded, but very interesting, and I lit a candle for John in the Church of Santa Clara. The exterior of this church was incredibly plain but the interior was another ‘wow’ moment. Such intricate carving of the marble.

Not my photo, I’m afraid – this one is from Trip Advisor – but you can see the phenomenal carving of the curtain draped either side of the altar. It really looked like material, but was marble.

While we waited for Graham in the main square of Kotor, Gail obligingly posed for a photo in front of the Pillar of Shame. She’s a good sport! Apparently, if you had done wrong, you stood there and told everyone about it all day long. Gail had nothing to say! Hehe.

We now know, in modern parlance, that ‘being pilloried’ comes from this practice. See? I told you it was all interesting!

On to Albania next, where I found our stay mixed. The recent history of the country and the capital, Tirana, in particular, was distressing. We heard about the vicious communist rule, from post-war until 1992. It was fascinating to learn about it but I didn’t have the stomach for it, I’m afraid, and opted out of the bunker tour shortly after it had started. Too much blood and gore and injustice to think about all in one go. Shocking stuff.

Another highlight for me though, was the city of Ohrid, situated beside the lake of the same name in North Macedonia. The city, which houses one of only two copies of the Gutenberg press in the world, has an amazing history of different cultures – Illyrian, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Slavic, Norman, Byzantine….. and, of course, the Ottomans and Christians – not to mention the equally amazing statistic of this small city once having had 365 churches – one for every day of the week!

We ate well here, overlooking the lake, and enjoyed the warm breeze from the glorious lake, bounded by mountains, as we walked along the shore.

For all of us though, I think, the most momentous sight of this Ancient Cities and Empires Tour were the rocks at Meteora, which emerged from the ground at an unexpected and massive height, and atop which monasteries and nunneries had been built. How they got the building materials, food and all other supplies up there blew our minds, and the whole site absolutely took our breath away.

I may not have had the best view from my room in Athens, but boy, I had the most fantastic view from my room in the Grand Meteora Hotel! Just look at that!

Naturally, the pièce de résistance of the tour was expected to be the Acropolis in Athens but, although it was fascinating and enjoyable to see, it didn’t have the same ‘wow’ factor as those Meteora rocks. Part of the polish was taken off the Acropolis because there seemed to be millions of tourists there – and I felt apologetic that I, too, was a tourist. More elbow sharpening was required…… but we did find a nice spot in front of the Parthenon for a minute or two.

I was thrilled, however, when the tour guide paused halfway up the steps to the top. She showed us the Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill, which is a rocky outcrop next to the Acropolis, on which Apostle Paul preached to a Roman crowd in 52 AD. More fascinating stuff. I love history.

On our last evening, we also enjoyed a rooftop view of the Acropolis. Once more, we succumbed to cocktails and a bite to eat, and generally indulged all our senses.

And then there was the sunset over Athens……

and the Acropolis by night…….. smashing.

A lovely holiday, thank you very much.

I think I’ve had a good week. I have been out visiting, been writing, helping a friend with her words for the Murder Mystery that we’re doing, done a spot of yoga, met up with two out of three sons and their families, chatted to other son via WhatsApp and, most amazing of all – I finished the jigsaw!!

Honestly, it was the hardest jigsaw I have ever done. Enjoyable in a challenging way and a real sense of satisfaction at having completed it, however. I did wonder, at one point, whether I might abandon it, but Pete encouraged me not to give up, so I persevered. Boom! Made it!!

On the visiting front this week, I went to see our former vicar, Father Peter, and his wife Sandra, on Saturday. A really lovely visit. So relaxed and very, very enjoyable – we chatted and chatted, ate and drank really well and had a lovely walk through the town of Evesham, where they have retired. “I’ll drive,” I’d suggested to the girl who came with me. “No, I’ll drive,” she replied, “I’m a nervous passenger.” Oh. Hmm – it turns out I’m a nervous passenger, too!! Eek! We made it there and back in one piece though!

I did an afternoon of ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ on Sunday, which was smashing. It’s never about whether you can write well or ill; it’s just about writing what you feel in response to some stimulus, such as a quote, a picture or a phrase, to provoke you into thinking of good things. Rebecca F. Kuang said: “Writing is the closest we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, it’s opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you powers to shape your own world.” She’s not wrong. It was a couple of hours of losing myself in a different world altogether. Food for thought.

Not only do I seem to to have (nearly) broken my writing block, but also my reading block. I used to love reading but, for many years now, I’ve hardly been able to start a book, let alone finish one. However, one or two friends have lent or bought me books that they’ve thought I’d enjoy – and I have read them. Fabulous. I’ve even started reading about Van Gogh. Yippee!! There’s hope yet.

On a totally different note, we used to kneel for prayers in church. No longer. We sit, heads bowed, instead. The kneelers, so carefully and lovingly worked by members of the congregation in memory of loved ones, lay abandoned in a side room. For momentous events, like Paul and Harriet’s wedding and Paul’s confirmation, we searched high and low for the one I had made in memory of my Dad – because kneeling is required in those services – but to no avail.

But there’s good news! The kneelers are to be binned and have been shifted into the back of the church. “Have a look through,” announced the church warden to those gathered in church last Sunday, “to find yours to take home, if you like.” Well, yes perlease, I thought……. so I had a rummage and found it. Marvellous and fond memories of the love that went into that piece of tapestry, The Star of Bethlehem, because, as most of you know, I hate sewing.

Mind you, now I look at it in the photo, it looks like a couple of fried eggs on toast, doesn’t it? Hehe!! I bet you can’t un-see that now, can you? God bless.

Life is interesting, isn’t it? You never know what weird and wonderful things are going present themselves to you. And I got to thinking that, as I continue to muddle through the fog, mist and other such cloudy things in my brain, my creativity button has simply switched off. A creativity menopause, if you will.

Which brings me to an apology for those who continue to regularly read the blog. I realise that I am simply recording ‘what I/we have done’ as a memoir of our family life. Mostly mundane with the odd, unexpected excitement – no more of an attempt at making the blog interesting or amusing (if ever it was anyway). A flat, 2D image of an ‘every day story of village folk’. But there we are. Maybe I’ll get my Mojo back in due course. Who knows? Anyway, here we are – a bit more of ‘this is wot I have dun….’

A week last Friday, I enjoyed a wonderful couple of hours at the NEC with Hazel (of Centre Stage and Quiz Night fame) and her friends, experiencing the Van Gogh exhibition. An immersive, 360º digital art exhibition that invited us to step into the universe of the Dutch genius. We all marvelled at the way in which the art was presented as merged, moving pictures, and we loved the event. It was so good that it prompted me to toddle to the library to order books on his life and works. On the BTBR (books to be read) pile now!

I also took delivery of Chester a week last Friday, too. A weekend away for him and a pleasure for me. An elderly boy now and slowing down a bit, meaning that the walks are more leisurely than taken at the usual run. He made himself at home, of course. And he’s not so infirm that he couldn’t woof at the next door neighbour’s cat – or get up the stairs into our bedroom, or leap up onto the sofa – all the places where he’s not supposed to be. Tee-hee.

My weekend didn’t stop there. On Saturday evening, our church choir joined up with two other local choirs to put on a concert to raise funds for supplies to Ukraine. It was great fun as they romped through popular songs; songs from the musicals; and some church music. We even had a sing-song ourselves too!!

I am not sure how much the event raised, but people certainly put their hands deep into their pockets after watching a video of first-hand experience of the horrors of war, filmed by of one of the congregation’s Ukrainian tenants.

Sunday was another Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner at Paul and Harriet’s with all the local family. Great food and great company – including the puppies of course! They are still cute – but growing. Not clear from these photos but Duke is a least a third larger than dainty Mabel and growing fast.

And the week that then rushed past involved babysitting the Kenilworth Newbie children on Monday and Tuesday while Michael and Danielle strove to do a bit of work. I took the children to Kenilworth Castle on Tuesday afternoon where Paul and Freddie joined us. What a great time we all had clambering up and down the ruins – and, of course, the traditional roly-polys down the banks. Not me this time though…… but so much fun that we hardly wanted to come home! Cakes helped the afternoon swing by, too. Here’s two of the brood with theirs. Yum.

Of course, it was back to school for every little boy in the family on Wednesday (much to the relief of their parents) and the obligatory doorstep photo, in which they all looked fabulously cute and – crikey – grown up! Oh, my heart.

Great activities and great company throughout the week which I really enjoyed – and on Friday afternoon, I even had couple of hours of reading in the garden when the weather turned very warm and sunny, beer in hand, of course!

Enjoying the warm sunshine and gazing at the house ‘that Jack built’ brought John to mind. I’m still missing the ol’ man. There’s a constant undercurrent of missing his vibrancy and that strong presence in my life; his ability to self-start and get on with things; his sense of humour and strong opinions – and, oh, just his being. But on the plus side, everything I look at around the house brings me the joy of having had him in my life so long. Hurrah for that.

It was to be hoped that the melancholy mood might be short-lived. It still might be, but not yet. It’s all feeling a bit of a muddle at the moment and who knows when that will end?

For a while, I had started to feel better, but here we are, back on the ‘down’ of the rollercoaster!! Oh, the thrills and spills of it all! Dizzy heights and low lows……

Mind you, lots of people have reminded me that this is to be expected, so I’ll expect away.

In the meantime, of course, I keep on keeping on (sage advice from several dear friends) and on Monday evening, I went with Linda C to the Birmingham Hippodrome to watch the show ‘Hamilton’. It had rave reviews – ‘brilliant’; ‘superb’; ‘amazing’ – were just some of the adjectives used, so we were both really looking forward to it. I chose decent (expensive) seats so that we’d be in the thick of it and be able to absorb the atmosphere.

Hahahaha…….neither of us had researched it beforehand, so we blithely entered into another realm of music that we weren’t expecting at all. Throughout, it was all ‘hip-hop’, fast-paced and very, very slick. By gum, we didn’t half have to concentrate hard to hear the words in order to get a bit of a gist as to what was going on!!

At the end of the production, everyone was one their feet – a standing ovation – and all whooping and hollering for all they were worth. Linda and I looked at each other and shrugged. Hmmm……..clearly, we’re not ‘down with it’, because we didn’t quite get it. It did make an impression upon me though, and it has set me pondering about modern thinking and how quickly this aging lark catches up with you. Definitely food for thought.

In other news, the ‘keep on keeping on’ mentality has included an enjoyable afternoon and Sunday Roast at the Kenilworth Originals where a decent helping of puppies was the order of the day.

I present to you Mabel and Marmaduke……. she’s an elegant little madam, and he’s a darling little bruiser!! Just how cute are these little dollops of loveliness?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I was up for another open water swim; a fab chat with me bestie, Carol; a spot of gardening (yippee!); a trip to the tip (with a big thank you to Paul for the help); Quiz Night, including ‘happy birthday’ singing (rather badly on Zoom) to Caroline who had a BIG birthday this week; a yoga class (Jaime’s back – hooray!); lovely tea and cake with Margaret who makes excellent cake; and an evening meal with the Kenilworth Newbies just back from their hols – nice.

Jigsaw puzzle is also coming on……. slow, slow progress (it’s only seven weeks since I started it), but I’m determined to finish it!!

G’night all.

In January, I thought I’d better set a monthly ‘something’ to look forward to. In the end, of course, I decided to say ‘yes’ to every invitation that was offered. And what a year it’s been so far. Friends and family have surrounded me with love and support and I’ve had a cracking time.

Plans to spend August fiddling in the garden have come to nought so far, with the grand plans on hold, yet again. Which led me to start thinking about how to live.

I knew this would come. I just didn’t know when.

It also led me to say ‘no’ and cancel some invitations/activities already in place. I am hoping I haven’t offended anyone but I expect I’ll find out when people stop talking to me!!

The thing is, recording what I/we do in the blog puts a shine on things. I usually aim to make it happy-ish. Sometimes, I can’t face sharing how I’m feeling, so the blog takes a back seat and I don’t write it – even when there have been happy events or success stories. To run with the façade of ‘I’m OK’ only lasts a little while before I’m really not OK.

So this week, I wasn’t OK. No matter that I’d had a lovely couple of days at Pete and Fran’s on Monday & Tuesday; a lovely lunch with Mike Downes on Wednesday, then another lovely lunch with Moira on Friday, followed by ‘food for the elderly’ when Catherine came on Friday evening.

No matter that I’d made the effort to exercise with a couple of walks and a class of yoga. No matter that I’d had a visit from Chris bringing a bar of chocolate to cheer me up, and then had a hoot at Quiz Night.

No matter that I’d successfully done a spot of decorating and a little bit of weed-pulling and dead-heading.

As Jaime, my dear yoga teacher says, we are human ‘beings’, not ‘doings’. In ‘doing’, I am hoping that the ‘being’ will reassert itself. However, no luck so far – I am not sure who I am, or what I’m here for; I’m just trundling along doing stuff and hoping for the best. And hoping that better is yet to come.

But the decorating has turned OK, hasn’t it?

Gosh! Doesn’t time fly when you are enjoying yourself? I can’t quite believe that it’s over a week since I jotted down all the amazing things that have been happening.

Once again, life has been fabulously full of family and friends – so much so, that I’ve hardly had time to catch my breath!! A very welcome weekend visit by George and Sue for more electrics; another barbecue en famille; welcoming Andrew home for the week; greeting the Kenilworth Originals back from their travels in Oz: more babysitting; a spot of Open Water Swimming and a bit of Yoga.

As if that weren’t enough, it was all followed by a curry with Centre Stage friends; a funeral; a visit to the Jewellery Quarter and a Michelin-starred meal out; Skyping Graham and Gail; birthday cake and bubbles with Pete and Dawn – and finally, a house party at Paul and Harriet’s to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Phew!

Within the wonderful activities, of course, there are moments that make you smile – for example, George making the exciting discovery of a toad at the bottom of the garden. Haven’t seen one of those for years.

Then there was Thomas carrying on the Sleath male-line tradition of showing a bum-crack when bending over. Aww…. bless, picking blackberries on ‘UncAndrew’s’ shoulders is just the best.

And, of course, no family get-together is complete unless one or other of the boys is in strong man Samson mode……

In amongst the fun and frolics however, there have been some poignant moments. Michael and Andrew got the Lotus out last Sunday (11th) to have a rummage in the engine, as they frequently do. I heard a toot-toot on the horn but didn’t take a lot of notice. They often toot-toot just for fun. Anyway, a minute later and in great excitement, Michael came pounding in, eyes sparkling, “Come and see!” he said, beckoning us out to the front drive.

Oh, wow!! There was the car, all running sweetly and everything. The boys had taken the car for a spin around the block. We were all thrilled and delighted. Naturally, there was more to check under bonnet, with the kids joining in…. and guess what? Might have shed a tear.

There was the final photo call in Oz too, posted on the WhatsApp Tribe chat, when Paul and Harriet said their farewell to Graham and Gail. Another moment when I might just have shed a tear.

And, naturally, there was Paul and Harriet’s 10th wedding anniversary house party and memories of the preparations and celebrations of that spectacular day. Might have shed a tear or two then, as well. Well, you know, what can you do?

Despite the emotional roller-coaster, these are such lovely moments mending, mending, mending me; softening the edges of the hurt and continued bewilderment of being a widow. Such moments to treasure. Cheers, everyone!

And the garden? “I’m not planning any activities in August,” I had boldly declared…… ha! ha! ha! August is halfway through and I’ve hardly touched the garden!! Eeek! The wilderness still awaits! Heeelp!! Anyone like to lay odds on whether I’ll get anything done? Hehehe!

Last Friday, it was barbecue time at my house for Pete & Dawn, Alison & Peter and Sally & Leigh. The occasion was a celebration of Alison’s few-weeks-past 70th birthday, and Dawn’s three-days-away birthday. Although tired, I was looking forward to it and it all turned out very nicely. The sun shone and company was lovely. What I hadn’t bargained for though, was a bit of a wobble.

I’d had one or two barbecues in recent weeks with the family when Paul did the cooking, so I thought I was all set. However, as I put out all the chairs, cushions and tables, then set up the barbecue itself, it dawned on me that I’d be doing John’s job – overseeing the burning of the meat! Hmm…… “Do you want a hug?” asked Alison, when she arrived. “Yes, please.” I replied. That helped, along with the fact the Peter Sharkey took over the cooking, so the wobble was over.

It was a very warm day last Friday, so we took ourselves to all the shady areas of the garden to try and keep cool. The parasols made a little bit of a difference at the patio table but, while most of us enjoyed the warmth and the sunshine, it didn’t suit Dawn awfully well. After the dessert, Dawn went home to rest in the cool of her house – after which I belatedly remembered to take photos of everyone. Ah well, next time I’ll get everyone in……

I spent the weekend resting, watching lots of the Olympics and generally fighting off the wobbles, which threatened to overwhelm. I was still in fight mode when I woke up on Monday morning and was just contemplating how to face the day when a phone call came in. It was Paul – all the way from Australia. Oh, my goodness! What a lovely boost to me that was. We spent nearly an hour nattering and saying hello to the family. Freddie, being addicted to digging in the sand, waved and shouted, “Hello Grandma!” from the depths of the beach. “Digging to England this time, instead of Australia?” I giggled. Yep – he absolutely loves it.

Everyone was well, although still a touch tired after all their antics and they had had a good few days with Graham and Gail. They look like they are having fun!

Pete and Dawn came round on Monday for a bit of cake and a glass of wine to toast Dawn’s birthday, so that rounded off the boost very nicely!

Tuesday and Wednesday were babysitting days, which were lovely once again, except that I had succumbed to a bit of a cold over the weekend. A Covid test was done, just to make sure that I wasn’t going to pass that particular dreaded lurgy on, but it was negative, so babysitting could go ahead.

We set up Andrew’s two-man tent in the garden for the children to play in and they had a whale of a time nipping in and out, in between pleas for an episode of Paw Patrol/Octonauts/Grizzly and the Lemmings…….

Meanwhile, I also nipped in and out to get drinks/toys/food/cushions etc and promptly managed to trip up the patio step and splat on my face. Argh!! I now have a lovely fat lip (very pretty) and a scratched lens in my glasses – oh, and a hefty bill for a new pair of those……… that’ll teach me to watch where I’m going!!

When I was in the sixth form, I was very excited to have free periods in amongst our lessons. I thought it was great; I’d be able to study and do my homework and generally get on with my education. Hahahaha……. in actual fact, I just messed about; procrastinated; chatted to my mates; twiddled my thumbs – you know the sort of thing?

Now that I am a grown-up, I am expecting things to have changed, because of course in theory, I know better. Or do I? Nah. Not a bit of it.

After an emotional weekend, during which I reminisced and thought muchly about my life with John, I had a couple of days free. I was full of good intentions. Lots to do and surely, I’d get on with it? No, of course not. I just faffed about, watched the Olympics and generally lived among the clutter. The bin was overflowing.

On Monday evening, I did manage a quick scoot around to stack the dishwasher in readiness for Kenilworth Newbie children baby-minding duties, which were impending the next day, but really, it wasn’t much.

Naturally, I had the very best time with the children who came to my house two days running – and who cares if the house is a mess? They certainly don’t – although it has to be said the Thomas did notice the overflowing bin, and I was shamed into emptying it.

Tuesday was far too hot to even play in the garden. William monitored the temperature, which he declared to be 28 degrees in the shade and 33 degrees in the sunshine. None of us wanted to venture outside and we played and played in the house instead. Even the Harry Potter cupboard was too hot for the boys that day. Thank goodness for cardboard boxes….

After I’d waved them all goodbye at the end of the day, I took myself off to Cliff Lakes for a cooling outdoor swim. The water was a very balmy 22 degrees and, having had my confidence boosted when I swam in Grasmere with Sue, I just swam and swam and chatted to one of the ladies there as we pootled round. I normally reckon on a ten to fifteen minute swim wherever I am. But thirty-five minutes later…….. eeeh, but it were luvly!

We’d pretty much exhausted the toys on Tuesday, so I took the boys to the park on Wednesday morning before it got too hot. More fun to be had and Oliver showed his Superman strength by pushing both of the older boys round on the roundabout. These boys never cease to amaze me!!

Cake, of course, on the way home, which delighted the boys, and then we messed about once more in the house, only venturing out later on in the afternoon when it had cooled just a little. Much watering of plants was undertaken.

And then – rhubarb!! A new crop had appeared after Paul had tended to the plot recently, so we picked it and made crumble. Lush. We ate it for tea. Crumble and custard in a heatwave? Well, why not?

Last evening, we were due to quiz. I had prepped my questions and was all ready to go when we all decided to postpone it. Some on holiday and some knackered from a bit of building clinched it. Next week? Yes, it suited me – next week’s fine. So, instead, I chatted to one of my best mates, Carol. Smashing.

And do you know what? I am still not on top of things. The bin may not be overflowing but there’s lots of rubbish everywhere else!! Oh, for a free day….. hehehe.

Yesterday, I tried not to think too much but, inevitably, I thought about John a lot. We had been together for nearly fifty-seven years, which is a very long time. And yesterday would have been our fiftieth wedding anniversary.

Had the ol’ man been here, it would have been absolutely golden, wouldn’t it?

Equally, I thought a lot about Mum, too. On 27th July last year, we were holding her funeral. Despite the nature of our gathering, it was actually rather good because it meant that we saw lots and lots of our family and friends on our 49th wedding anniversary – and Gail even got us a cake to celebrate, which went down well. We didn’t know then that it would be our last, but I am grateful for that day with everyone.

I was keen not to spend our anniversary on my own, so one or two of my ‘besties’ came over: Dave and Chris; George and Sue – most of whom had been there at the very start of our journey; Anita; and Pete and Dawn – all of whom have absolutely been there for us all the way. I so appreciated their gentle understanding, their chatter about normal things and their toast to John. We had a lovely day together.

We had had a lovely day on our wedding day itself, too. As happy as happy can be. With a rolling pin at the ever-ready, it was always going to be a long marriage, wasn’t it?

I have had another fabulous week! The trains behaved and I managed to get myself down to the ‘smoke’ on Tuesday where once again, I stayed in Putney with John’s Uni friends, Nigel and Ann. And once again, they looked after me so wonderfully well that I came home well-refreshed on Thursday. Eeh, but it were luvly!!

Nigel and Ann met me off the train, whereupon Nigel whisked my suitcase off to their house, while Ann and I wandered through Green Park for a picnic lunch, before another saunter into Hyde Park to meet up with Nigel at the two Serpentine exhibition spaces, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We saw two very different art exhibits/installations and were particularly thrilled by ‘Suspended States’ by Yinka Shonibare. Brilliant stuff.

In the evening, we met George Pryzbyla at the Comptoir Libanais in South Kensington for a bite to eat. It was so nice to see him and especially hear all about his recent status as Grandpa. He was also excited by the General Election result, so we heard all about his activities as a canvasser in his local area. Fascinating!

Wednesday was another ‘up an’ at ’em’ day. We were off to Dulwich for another art exhibition at the oldest purpose-built art gallery in the UK, Dulwich Art Gallery. And we weren’t disappointed. The art was Yoshida: Three Generations of Japanese Print Making. I loved it and feasted my eyes and soul as long as I could – even bought the exhibition book!

A spot of lunch just after one o’clock and then a bus ride home, before joining the jet set in Piccadilly at Brasserie Zedel’s for an evening meal and a foray into The Crazy Coqs for a bit of Jazz. All very weird and wonderful. Ann and I couldn’t help giggling our heads off at some the antics and kept giggling all the way home. Smashing.

It was home-time on Thursday, but that didn’t stop us doing something! We met up with Jane in Chiswick; she and Nev were about to set off for the New Forest but Nev was still getting a shower, so she came solo. It was lovely hour or so together though, and we hugged a fond goodbye at the Tube station.

Ann and I went on to the Garden Museum on the banks of the Thames – a small, but fascinating display of gardens, gardeners, artefacts and tools in the old deconsecrated church of St-Mary-at-Lambeth. More soul-filling.

I had already hugged Nigel a fond farewell earlier in the day, but I squeezed Ann tight as I left her at the station. I had had such an amazing time. Thoroughly enjoyed their company. Lucky me.

Home again, and it was a babysitting day over at the Kenilworth Newbies while Michael and Danielle were at their friend, Leah’s, wedding. Gosh, they scrubbed up well. Looked gorgeous in their smart gear. “Makes a change from jeans!” said Danielle as she left the house.

The boys were marvellous fun while their parents were away and no trouble at all. Lego-building for William and Thomas went down well, while Oliver had a daytime nap. I am forever amazed at their skills and ability to follow the instructions.

Meanwhile, the Kenilworth Originals have arrived in Oz. This is the view from their hotel. Not bad, eh?