Good grief, five months behind! The truth is that I've been so busy I've had very little time; I'm dreadfully behind with emails as well as with this blog, so I need to catch up quickly.
After our French visitors left at the beginning of May, we had about a week's breathing space, then we went back home to Oxted for a week to do various things there and to attend various medical appointments.
We were fortunate that the azaleas were in bloom in the garden - I always enjoy the blaze of flowers from the azaleas and rhododendrons at this time of year.
Above is one of the azaleas in full bloom and below is a rhododendron in the front garden.
I'm afraid I didn't quite manage it without a bit of a car in the photo - visitors' cars park on the forecourt, so it's hard to get a photo there without a car in it.
After a very busy week, we drove back to Manchester on May 16th, but not for long! We managed to squeeze in a few excursions with my grandson in the next few days - one was to Marie Louise Gardens. Marie Louise Gardens are often described as a hidden gem, because so many residents are unaware of their existence until they stumble across them by accident, as we did. The garden was given to the citizens of Manchester in 1903 by Josephine Silkens, in memory of her daughter, Marie Louise, who died young in 1891, aged 26. It is small and very peaceful, with some lovely shrubs and huge specimen trees. However, the reason for taking my grandson there was the very tame squirrels. We took peanuts.
My grandson was fascinated by the squirrels, who come right up to you as soon as they see you, in the hope of a tasty treat. He was happy to throw them peanuts, I let them eat from my hand, until one of the bolder ones mistook my finger for a peanut. He had sharp teeth! It's probably not a good idea to hand feed them, but it gave my grandson the opportunity to see them up close, and he was quite fascinated.
On May 21st I caught a train back down to London for the retirement party of a friend and ex-colleague. It was very nice to catch up with all my old colleagues. I spent the night with my sister, and caught the train back to Manchester with her next day. It was her birthday, so there was a cake when we arrived.
The cake was designed by my grandson, so it features various pictures of Thomas the Tank Engine - the little soul is so fond of Thomas he is certain everybody else in the family must be similarly smitten!
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