Good weather - Busy family day.

This is the Bob picture I promised you, of last year's VE day 60th Anniversary at Radcliffe-on-Trent British Legion.

He has entitled it "Ill Join the Legion" which I think say's it all. The medium of black & white suits the picture and it is such a memorable image.

Our own day has been very much occupied by family. Last night David emailed and said they would like to come over and see us. As we were already committed to feeding Tracy and Miles and Hannah (fresh from her sleep-over at Tracy's) it made sense for them to come over in the morning and share our communal lunch. I won't repeat the menu but 4 extra people involved raiding the freezer for all available sausages. There were some links of Cumberland, some Pork & Leek, some Lincolnshire and some non-descript pink ones that I had labelled 'children's sausage'. I popped the lot in a large roasting tray and put them in the oven with the Yorkshires (easy to make more - abit more flour, another egg, a slosh more milk & water, the whole well beaten. I can't give the qauntities because I add whatever is necessary till it's the right consistency - and touch wood! it always works). Then I turned the sausages out, into a large shallow earthenware crock which I put on the table, with the instruction "pick your own sausages". Yvonne said it was a triumph ! And it really was a popular meal. Mostly clean plates - but Miles doesn't eat very well - very picky, but he is only 4 and many children are very selective with likes and dislikes. But Brooke is only 4 too and her little jaws were going like clockwork. Then Jelly & Icecream or Strawberries & Cream or any desired combination and a cheeseboard and coffee for grownups.

And then the children played and played and played. Hide and Seek, Drawing and Colouring and a vigorous outside game (entitled Princesses and Dinosaurs) which mostly involved rushing around the rear garden whacking people with bamboo canes to which fallen camellia flowers had been taped. This last bit was to do with Harry Potter apparently ! Don't ask, don't ask ! They all had a good time and I bet they sleep well tonight. I know Yvonne and I feel as if we will. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work and as one gets older the less predictable one's sleep patterns become. While sorting out a spare table I had knocked the clock off the wall in my room. The mechanism still worked but the hour hand had become unfixed from the central spindle. An obvious David type job and, bless him, he fixed it. He is so good at that type of thing. It's now back up on the wall where I like it because it's so big, I can actually read the time in the night without ferreting-about for my glasses.

When Hannah and Miles reached home Steve 'webcammed' us on Festoon and it worked fine, after initial glitches again. Sometimes it shows people as 'offline' when you know they are 'online' because you've got Google Talk open and are speaking to them. Early days though and soon we shall be adept. It will be great when Debra's PC is fixed, so we can include Palmer's Green in our cyber-space.

Nothing showing in diaries for tomorrow so we should be OK for a rest-day. Schoolchildren are back at School so if we get bored we can toddle off down to Ikea for a mooch around and maybe lunch. We do lead such exciting lives !