SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!

MARCH AND APRIL WHISTLED AWAY...

For many people, who had been adversely affected by Britain's inclement weather that flooded thousands of homes and turned many business ventures into negative equity, damage costs are still rising as they rented and salvaged whatever they could save.  Costs to the Nation are into £millions; many are looking for ways to alleviate their burden; and others are trying to muster enough strength to re-build their lives or their livelihood, from scratch.  
Our thoughts are with you, wishing you success in all your efforts!

Hopefully, Government grants and aid, will speed up the repairs and compensation for those who have lost everything.   Many charities have set up food banks all around the country, giving a lifeline to the homeless, the unemployed and disabled, especially for the sick and elderly, whose health had been damaged by strong winds and disease-causing damp in their homes.  We wish you a speedy recovery and good humour to enjoy the best of our summer.

A bunch of brilliant colours

At last the weather is showing signs of warming up and drying out, and the countryside becoming more beautiful every day; the trees are greening and the flowers are brilliantly colourful, even the bluebells are a deep azure, the most vibrant violet blue I have seen in many years.


Roy and I braved the torrential rain to visit Alan and Jan Olden's bluebell fields this year, and we were duly rewarded with a delightful show of bluebells at their best, followed by a welcoming hot tea at their beautiful home, surrounded by various animal statues, carved by Alan's own fair hand, whenever one of their trees fell.  His next project has already presented itself by a tree, knocked down in the recent storm, asking to be turned into another piece of art.

Camellia and rhododendron bushes are bursting into shocking pink and mauve flowers, against verdant green woods and hedges.  Summer is indeed a gorgeous time of the year in Great Britain!  With longer daylight hours, many of us will be spending more time tending the gardens, eating alfresco and  working up an appetite for a BBQ meat fest.

Alicia and Irena came to lunch

We continue to enjoy local theatres, such as The Maskers, in their cosy, mini-stage in Shirley, or their open-air productions held previously at Mottisfont and Hamptworth House.  Our favourite local amateur group is The RAOD, performing at the Plaza theatre in Romsey, their dramas, comedies and musicals have entertained us for decades. Occasionally we venture up to London for a musical or a play in the West End, but the shows have to be really fantastic to entice us to travel to London.

Eating out is now becoming a favourite pastime, and finding new restaurants on our doorstep is always fun.  Most enjoyable of all is being with friends and eating together, whilst catching up on each other's news.  We often have coffee mornings at elevenses, or afternoon tea with friends at home, all very pleasant indeed.    

Amelie is lovely to talk to.

Our friends, Youzhi and Jerome's little Amelie is growing up into a most delightful, intelligent and bright young lady of under two years old.  She absorbs everything like a sponge, and is a gleeful mimic of sound, action, and any new words she hears, so lovely to talk to and to sing with, especially Nursery Rhymes!

Gordon's birthday at the Waldorf Hotel 

I had a most wonderful weekend in London, to celebrate our friend, Gordon's 79th birthday, when Genevieve generously treated us to a champagne dinner at the Waldorf Hotel, in Aldwych.  We started the day with a guided tour at the busy National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, on the works of several Impressionists.

 
Being Bank Holiday weekend, Trafalgar Square was teeming with visitors, entertained by groups of street actors, musicians and acrobatic acts. The walk up the Strand to the Aldwych brought back many happy memories of the London I knew in the 1960's, when working for the Birmingham Post and Mail on Fleet Street, I spent lots of carefree lunch hours, indulging in anything London had to offer: Mrs. Levi's deportment class, an hour of French conversation, music in the park, window shopping and delights of London pubs.

Those who know us well, will wonder why we had not made a trip abroad in the last two years. Google's Blogspot writing, as well as renewed interest in digital photography, and the desire to sort out hundreds of diaries that recorded our 25 years of travels, in conjunction with thousands of photographs taken in over 80 countries, that have kept us busy, enough to take time off from our love of gallivanting the globe, in search of pastures new.  It was time well-spent to rest and reflect, and take stock of our life.

Doors and Portals by Jean Romsey

I even found time to paint three pictures to exhibit at Romsey Art Group's Spring Exhibition, The 'Doors and Portals'  was inspired by a PhotoBook, 'Pushbikes and Portals' produced by Roy, from his photo collection.  I chose to collate the second PhotoBook, entitled: 'A Pictorial Peek into Roy and Jean's Life Together', with 26 pages of photographs selected from thousands, to feature the
many activities we shared with our friends and families, in the 42 years we've been together.  Quite a task!  But what a life!

These two PhotoBooks were gifted to us by our good friends, Youzhi and Jerome at Roy's birthday. It feels so good to be able to hold a book of memories in your hand, and flick through it at any time you like.  It's not the same clicking through folders in your computer, looking at masses of thumbnail images. Thanks to our friends, I am so happy with this gift of a Photobook - it's a great idea.

I shall catch up with you again in a few weeks with more news.