You'd think that planning a small family get-together would be easy. Most of us don't live in the same areas and we all have busy schedules. Some are available some days but not on others, and each person's timetable has little correspondence to anyone else's. Consequently I'm still trying to get people to settle on a meeting date, even.
Our get-together celebrates two forthcoming birthdays - Mum's 83rd and Vikkey's 25th - and also the news that Vikkey and Peter are expecting their first child. Just don't address me as Great-Aunt Adele. I have no objection to being ancient, (or, more accurately, ageless), being the dyed-in-the-wool Immortalist that I am. It's just that it doesn't seem too long ago since little Victoria was gurgling happily while daubing paints and obsessing about Roland Rat. His name was her first words - though she said something more like 'Woland Wat', and would squeal with delight whenever his maniacal grey muzzle graced TV.
Oh yes, I remember that child - she of the mega-sub-zero feet who'd dive into my bed at 4am, smelling of mashed banana and sicked-up milk while the crib in the corner housed Chuckie's twin, illumined by the amber night-light, who fiercely gripped the guard rail and pogoed for all she was worth, blonde hair on end, singing "Whirr-whirr-whirr-whirrrrrr!" with wild grin on her cherubic face. From the next room would come my sister's stifled laughter and Frankenstein-with-a-Bruce-Lee-Haircut's steady snoring. Family visits, hmm? Memories are made of such stuff.
Meanwhile, back in the present - more or less -, I was determined to photograph the purple bush which is currently flowering in our garden. If anyone can identify its species, please let me know. (Click on the photo above to view it larger).
As can be seen in the photo, our dogs and chickens joined in. Ygraine especially likes having her photo taken, as was demonstrated last weekend when Richard took both dogs for a walk on Caldy Hill. A couple were enjoying a picnic on the heathery summit and filming their baby investigating food when Ygraine trotted up, poked her nose right into the lens and panted for the camera, then happily trotted off again having become some random addition to a total stranger's home video
And here she is again, helping me to photograph the camellia which Mum gave me. The miniature standing stone (!) marks the northerly point in the Grove.
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