Quiet again here

Grandchildren with their mum

Our "London" grandchildren,and their mum and dad have returned home, so we are quiet again here. We love having them come to stay.

Time to jam

Tomorrow we have some good old friends coming across from the Cotswolds for the day. It will be good to see them. They'd be welcome to stay the night but have to get back for a meeting Wednesday morning.

Grandchildren gone home

Our home is very quiet again.  The 2 "London" grandchildren have now gone back to their London home and the elder one (6.5) goes back to school in the morning.

We have had the children on their own Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights - they were perfectly behaved - and their mum joined us on Sunday. Even though I felt quite rotten at times (stroke - sickness and giddiness), it was a great pleasure and joy to have them stay and again enjoy their childhood sense of wonder with the world.

For a few days my illness was not the main focus of attention. It was such a pleasure to have them and to enjoy their joy of life. We are fortunate indeed to have 4 lovely little grandchildren in our lives.

Visit to the local church

http://www.stmarysburwell.org.uk/content/pages/uploaded_images/1.jpg

Our grandchildren love our local church, (picture above is on the church website) not for any religious reason, rather because it is a large, slightly mysterious place in which they can run around and explore. The toy corner is rather better than most too. Today their mum is taking them for a walk to the church, before their dad arrives around lunchtime. From here it is about 330m.

The church was largely built in the 1400s. It was designed by the same man who designed Kings College Chapel in Cambridge.  Burwell church  (and Kings College Chapel) is well worth a visit. Look for the medieval wooden animals carved in the roof timbers that are sometimes hard to see. Burwell is a fine English church in the perpendicular style much liked by Pevsner on his visits.

Grandchildren

Tim with Amandine and Lucien playing " Hide and Seek"

Today, one of our sons, his lovely French wife and their 2 delightful young children came up from London for the afternoon as Lucien's school was on strike. The grandchildren are 6.5yrs (Lucien) and nearly 3yrs (Amandine)  and they cheer me up no end. These days they play well together, spending about 30 minutes playing hide and seek. Lovely to see little Amandine counting to 20 in both English and French.  On Sunday our other grandchildren are coming up and they will be here for a few days.

Simple pleasures

Feeding the ducks near Ely Cathedral

Nearly 4 years ago we had our first little grandson. Since then we have been blessed with another grandson and a little granddaughter.  It is hard to explain just how powerful a bond there is between grandparents and grandchildren: in some ways it is even stronger than the bond to our own children. Today we enjoyed the simple pleasures of walking around Ely with its cathedral with our eldest grandson, feeding the ducks and walking in the woods and playing hide-and-seek between the trees. We know that all too soon he and the other grandchildren will grow older and away from us. For now we are enjoying every single moment.