Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough. Garrison Keillor

Many children!



Many babies!





Many thanks!

Ah, the British!

Just in case we weren't conforming enough to stereotype;try this!
www.thechapolympiad.com

On a more personal note;





I found this poem the other day - isn't it lovely? And accurate!

Photographs
By Fran Landesman

Photographs are smiles that last forever
Snowmen that can never melt away
Birthday celebrations caught in amber
Rescued from the vaults of yesterday

Faces that were once more dear than diamonds
Boys who kept you up until the dawn
Houses filled with bicycles and babies
Ghosts who left their shadows on the lawn

Photographs are holes in time’s grey curtain
Through them we can peek into the past
Call upon our parents and our children
Pop a cork with members of the cast

There they are, the days of jazz and joy-rides
Snaps of magic moments lit by laughs
If you ever find my house on fire
Leave the silver
Take the photographs

Sorry for being so lax!

It's been a busy time, so I'll run through the highlights!
We went for proper afternoon tea with Marianna and Lara. Doesn't it look lovely? I can recommend the cake - it was fantastic!

After tea, Marianna cuddled Tabby-Kat;

While Lara bravely endured Guy's piano playing!
He stopped half way through to take his top off!
And we went out to a cafe with Guy and Ita, and received lots of comments about twins!
Sometimes you can see the similarities;
and sometimes the differences!

The horses continue to enjoy Phoebe tender ministrations, and the apples she sometimes brings them!
Guy and Ita took their friend Claudia to Blenheim - and much ice-cream was eaten!
And Tabby-Kat continues to be a contented lady of leisure, and has particularly enjoyed lying on the grass in the dappled sunshine on these lazy, hazy days.

That's it for now! I'll try to have something more interesting to post soon!

I do like to be beside the seaside!

Yesterday we went to visit Nanny and Grandad by the sea. We went for a very nice lunch, then sailed Grandad's boat on the lagoon.
Three generations of Black boys playing with their toys!

Then, off to the beach;



The dark clouds came.......and then went again!




Very tired children by the end of the day!

What's going on in the house right now;

Daddy's doing bedtime. It goes something like this:

Happy Days!

Well, this half-term we've been to Waddesdon Manor
to meet up with Sacha, Peter, Clare, and Alice. Here are Tabby-Kat and Alice snoozing in the shade.
Clare and Tabby
Tabby, Phoebe and Guy getting ready for yet another picnic!
This doesn't look like much, but this is a strawberry milkshake made with fresh strawberries that were picked from the fields behind the cafe an hour or two ago, and it's the best and most delicious cold drink on a hot day in the whole, wide world!

Here's the sand pit and play area at Blackberry Farm.


As you can imagine the Country Cafe at Blackberry (Pick your own) Farm gets pretty busy over half term.

And, just for a change from endless picnics, we bought a cucumber and picked some strawberries at Blackberry Farm, and made strawberry ice-cream and cucumber sandwiches.
And Barbara came to tea!

Summer in Oxford!

This picture tells you all you need to know about summer in the UK.
Shorts and snow boots!Here are a couple of pictures of butterflies that Phoebe took;

Guy: Daddy, you're a tiger!
Ken: Am I? Why's that then?
Guy: Because you have stripes on your forehead.
Ken: Hmmmm....

Phoebe was asking who the bronze busts were in the restaurant this evening. We explained they were the owners and founders of the restaurant. 'Did they have arms and bodies?' she asked. 'Yes,' we replied. 'And was their skin brown like K, and N, and R (naming some of her friends)?'
We had to admit we didn't know.
I hadn't realised that Phoebe thought that all bronzes were representations of people of colour!