Relaxing.

.

It's been a busy week, during which we have managed to see most of the family in the UK & entertained a fair section of the community.
I've cooked dozens of meals!
We had Marg & Phil, Maurice & Mary for lunch on Wed, a "Noble fest" on Thurs, followed by Jan & Chris for dinner, in the garden, J &Th on Fri, AJ on Sat & a charity lunch for 30 on Sunday.
The Sunday lunch went very well, despite the Heaven's opening as folk arrived & showers preventing us from playing games on the carefully manicured lawns.
AJ set up & ran a great bric a brac stall on the yard, making nearly £100, despite being almost cut off by floods for half an hour.
We had a good raffle, with donated prizes & ate loads of lasagne & piles of puds.

T & KP are here, asleep after  a few games of croquet, walking/cycling to the playground, playing in the bath & watching a bit of the Olympics - so tired they forgot to phone home.
Ideal outcome!
Fun & games tomorrow, with J & Th.    

Hot, hot,hot.

Wow!
Real heat today,requiring us to have a siesta this afternoon.
Fortunately, I was up early & sot loads done - ironing catch up, everything removable from the bed stripped, washed, line dried & back on the bed in hours.
We set about finishing the jobs in the garden, ready for the Charity Lunch on Sunday.
G finished the yard - sweeping silver sand into the cracks, I swept everything vertical - doors, windows, etc, washed the paintwork, & cleaned the windows on both sides.
Primrose's stable is worth another star!
We are having games on the lawns & a bric- a - brac stall on the yard & seating, so  we want it to look good.
Shaws & Woodwards came to lunch - roast pork, followed by apple sponge & ice cream.
Scrummy. I did have a little bit of pudding, the weight going down well.
We sat & chatted over coffee, then read the papers, in the garden until it cooled down, about 5.30pm, then gardened again.
Only the bed at the top of the garden to do at some point.
G to London tomorrow, tennis for me & then either a day at home or shopping.
See how I feel.

I think the Olympics will be amazing.
I hope the border people don't strike, seems almost traitorous to consider it.    

Summer's come.

Tennis this morning, under blue skies.
Brill.
I even went in the lotus, with the roof down, then on to P & A's to spend the afternoon in the garden & collect J & Th from school.
The walk to school was a pleasant relief from the garden, which was very hot.
Th found some woolly gloves & came to help.
Chicken & salad for dinner with a nice glass of white wine, a tootle around the outskirts of the village to deliver a couple of Sunday lunch fliers - we have a couple of dozen coming, so far, & counting.
Bric - a brac promised, including a table & four chairs, which we will use in the garden & then sell to the highest bidder.
Please God, let the summer last into next week.

I slept through most of horizon, so will have to continue ageing at the usual rate, until the repeat. 

The feast of Mary Magdelene.

That made the choice of sermon simple & interesting, I hope - only the congregations at Sh & OW know. It accounted for Saturday morning, anyway.
We worked flat out in the garden until after 7.00pm, yesterday & today.
We are still putting things right - not a good idea to leave a garden for a month in May/June, with high rainfall.
The lawns are looking good, G has weeded the drive whilst I did the borders around the house & weeded the yard - still about  a quarter to go, but it's looking much more cared for now.
We are having a charity lunch here next Sunday with games - skittles & croquet - on the lawn, weather permitting, so want it to look good & the lawn to be not too bumpy.
I still have to settle on the main course.
I'm favouring lasagne, served with salad & ciabatta, as I can make half a dozen large ones the day before & then only have to make puddings on the day.

We have just watched Wallander - last in series, thank goodness - "wading through misery", as The Sunday Times says.
About right - dreary scenery, people & houses.
For how long does that poor dog get locked up?
It makes going to bed seem really fun & interesting, even alone!

Warm weather promised so hopefully, we'll play tennis tomorrow, if not too many are on holiday, then on to pick up J & Th from school.
Shaws & Woodwards for lunch (yummy!) on Tuesday, G to London on Wed.
Could be a chance to visit JR, or a shopping opportunity.

home again.

I was wondering where the week had gone to, as no blog since Monday.
I've remembered.
We went to Marsh Gibbon on Tuesday, to visit J, G & family & G to have  his back treated, then on to Bicester.
G & I travelled in separate cars, like the royal family, only in our case it was because G was coming home before me.
We met at Stratton Audley, at The Red Lion, for lunch, then on to Bicester to the garden centre, which is brilliant, then G to MG whilst I collected T & KP from school.
We did meet up later for dinner with E & a sleepover.
I spent a great couple of days, doing the school runs - walks actually, which is far preferable - & entertaining myself during the hours in between. Thursday was dry so I managed a day in the garden & have the offer of commissions from the neighbours - I think that it may have been seeing me trimming the edges with the kitchen scissors that impressed them.
I drove home last night, picking up a large fish & small chips at Meriden, to share for supper, with tartare sauce & a glass of cold white wine.

Today we went to the Jewellery Quarter - no sign of our stuff - then on to pick up J & Th from school.
Home by 7.00pm, a nice smoked salmon sandwich & salad & a lazy evening.
I have a sermon to complete for Sunday; we hope to spend a day in the garden tomorrow, weather permitting. 

Guess what....

It's raining heavily.
That surely can't be it for another forty days.
Tennis off, so I've had a late breakfast, watching mindless TV & the rain on the windows - quite relaxing actually, after a busy weekend.
We went to a wedding at Shustoke church then on to the reception & evening caileadgh, on Saturday.
I had my hair done & wore my new "nude" lace dress, with matching shoes & bag, & felt good.
At a quick glance, I may well have looked naked!
It was a lovely family occasion.
On Sunday I took the service at NW, G helped to prepare the lunch for the available family, P's friend, Claire & boyfriend - twelve in all.
Scrummy chickens from M&S followed by "self build" meringue nests.
T marked me down for serving new potatoes, not roast, not made up for by roast parsnips & carrots.
Masses of Scones & Scotch pancakes were consumed at teatime, to finish the rest of the cream, alongside P's chocolate b'day cake - 29, I believe!

G is going to Solihull for a meeting, then on to collect J & Th - he has declined my offer to assist, so any minute now, as soon as he's left, I shall spring into action & clean the house, from top to bottom!
I'm not allowed to vacuum when G is about as he doesn't like the noise!!

We have just watched some cowboy builder programme - dumbos who paid £25,000 up front for a leaking dormer frame to be botched in their roof, a further £6000 to have the roof made waterproof, then a further £8000 to take the now unemployed builder to court to get a settlement of £5 a week for 40 years.
These programmes have so many reprises that you could get an A* GCSE in the details - 15 minutes programme condensed into an hour.
OK, so daytime TV is for the elderly & infirm with the memory span of a golden orf.
I do hope that it's hot & sunny in Cornwall - wish I was there! 

Hurray!

No, it hasn't been a dry day but the Lotus passed its MOT.
We took it to Kingsbury Garage early this morning then went on to Ventura Park to take on vittles for Sunday lunch, when the family are coming.
We pottered  a bit before coming home so i could write a sermon for Sunday.
The reading is Mark 6, the beheading of St John the baptist - a bit gruesome.
Fortunately, it is July 15, St Swithun's day (or Swithin), so I swotted up on him instead - Bishop of Winchester in the ninth century.
 He asked to be buried without pomp where the rain & the footfall of worshippers would fall on him, so he was buried just outside the West door of the Old Saxon Minster.
About a hundred years later, Ethelwold, the new pioneering Bishop of Winchester, set up a new community of Benedictine monks in the Old Minster &took Swithun as the  Patron Saint.
He moved the remains indoors, to an elaborate reliquary, attracting hoards of pilgrims who claimed miraculous healings.
There followed torrential rain for forty days, which gave rise to the legend that if there is rain/sunshine on St Swithun's day, there will be similar weather for the following 40 days.
Most saints' days are on the date of their death, St S's on the day his remains were moved!

We collected J & Th from school & had tea in McDonalds.
Scrummy.
I must be getting better.
I also found time to buy a lacy dress in Beatties sale; perhaps I'll wear it tomorrow for the wedding.

Summer?

A busy day - helping to decorate the church for friends wedding on Saturday - it took five hours!!
Knackered by the time we'd finished & I'd cleaned from top to bottom.
Henrys are OK, but much harder work than Dyson, as you have to provide the pressure.
Better than a dustpan & brush.
Came home, had a cup of tea followed by two hours in the garden, tidying up after the storm last week, which washed soil from the rockery & blew leaves & twigs off everything.
The rain came down as soon as I hung the washing out, so it had a good soaking whilst I gardened, expecting it to blow over.
I do hope that the weather in Cornwall has been better today to allow some time on the beach.
Lotus in tomorrow for MOT, so fingers crossed.
I have some shopping to do as there is hardly any food in the house, then to Solihull to pick up J & Th.
Christian Aid AGM in the evening, I'll send apologies & go to Jan's Cookery event, which must be more fun & needs support - don't we all!
The wedding on Saturday - shall I wear "my" wedding suit, just to show it fits, or do I need another new outfit? 

Lost gardens.....

We have just returned from a couple of days in Fowey (pronounced, "Foy", as "joy"), in Cornwall, to spend some time with W, MK & the boys, including two great barbeque dinners.
We stayed in The Fowey Hotel, which was excellent - fantastic views across the river to Polruan, good rooms & breakfasts & lovely, local staff; all this a short walk from the town & Readymoney cove.
We looked directly across to W & MK's balcony (I eventually located it this morning, despite W dancing on the balcony table, wearing a pink T-shirt, yesterday)
We have travelled back & forth on the ferry, much more fun than the car, after dinner.
Today we visited the Lost gardens of Heligan, near Mevagissey - lost sometime after the 1920s & found again in the 1990s & returned to their former glory.
I wish we could have stayed longer.
Back to the grind.  

happy Birthday DK

Dk is four today - the last grandchild to attain that great age.
Meanwhile, Aj & I have travelled back fro Richmond, where we have been staying with PR, pottering around the shops & visiting Wimbledon on Saturday & Wednesday.
We had a great time, the tennis was excellent & we were lucky enough to have two good days - hot & sunny on Sat & only the odd shower on Wed.
We saw 3 of the 4 womens' singles semi-finalists playing, in the ladies doubles, including two matches with the Williams sisters.
We are getting almost competent at using the buses around Richmond - I admit to having used G's bus pass all week as I couldn't find mine.
A little shopping, then collecting J & Th from school tomorrow, followed by a retirement party for the senior staff from KS.
Do I need a new dress?