Princess Paige

Following the success of the grandsons' visit on Friday, went for bust and took granddaughter Paige (4 years old) to the allotment with brother Connor the following day. As seen here (click image to enlarge) Paige is always dressed in pink and normally has her Sleeping Beauty outfit on... she's going to have problems when she needs to dress up 'cause there's nowhere to go!

Connor continued building his castle, ending up with a boat complete with flag (no, neither do I know how a castle turns into a boat) which we stuffed into the car so he could continue playing with it at home. Sure Beth and Chris were grateful to me for that. Paige is much more high maintenance so there was lots of water can filling, door opening and general princess-attendant type duties for me. To download and listen to our discussion about princes and her feelings for cousin Sammy, click here.

They were late being returned to grateful parents since they decided to play statues when it was time to leave. They were both frozen and unresponsive to my encouragements to leave and we had several sessions of this down the path to the car. Little angels!

Sunday started with great hope that I'd at last be the holder of all three competition cups. Already having retained the tennis cup from Barry earlier in the week, playing both squash against son David and pub games against him and son John had me buzzing. It only took a 1-3 beating from David on the squash court to bring me back to earth.

The buzz was rekindled when David announced he was bringing his fan club to the Legion that evening... his girlfriend Honor. The family had only caught fleeting glimpses over recent months, even though they've apparently been going out together on and off for more than ten years! David would do well to work for MI5.

Spent a pleasant evening getting to know Honor a bit better and her support spurred David on to win the pub games cup. Had a very relaxing cycle home on the Pashley, maintaining a decently straight line in spite of the beer and the emotional impact of losing another cup. Retired early and was deep asleep when the mobile 'phone beside the bed rang me into sudden awakeness at midnight. David had lost his keys so could he borrow my crowbar to get in through a window same as last time? Only problem was he's had double glazing windows fitted since the previous episode, so he was back on the 'phone at 00:40 to ask if he and Honour could stay over. The following morning the pair of them were off like a shot without the proffered breakfast, cup of tea or anything else. Keys found at John's house, where they'd all retired to after I'd wobbled off on my bike.

Of course the interrogation from daughter Becky this afternoon, when we both spent a pleasant hour together on the plot, revealed I'd missed all the important questions to ask Honor. No doubt Becky and sister Beth will be giving me a list beforehand when the opportunity next arises.

Walked through Hemingford Grey and back along the water meadow with Linda this morning. Had asked at Norris Museum about boundary markers which apparently still show the ancient pre-Enclosure Acts boundaries. Sure enough they were there in white along both sides of the meadow and in the middle in some cases.

Gradually catching up on the tidying up of the raised beds and potting up the flower seedlings. Also started repotting the geraniums. About half of the vegetable seeds I planted in the greenhouse are now showing. Will have to see if this is the best method of propogating when I have to plant out about three hundred of them!

At last we've had some decent rain, although the ground remains hard and we need quite a bit more. Parts of East Anglia are designated as having a semi arid climate similar to Colorado or Montana in the USA, or The Outback in Australia. Suppose we should be grateful for what rain we get!