"London" grandchildren gone home

Our home is very quiet tonight.  Our "London" grandchildren have now left and the others are on holiday with grandparents in Australia. All  4 are aged 7 and under and we love them all.

Sadly, the innocence of young childhood soon goes, so we are making the most of them.

Grandchildren

We have our "London" grandchildren staying for a few days and nights. The house goes from order to disorder very quickly! 

I am still suffering the after effects of my cerebellum brain bleed in Sept 2013 so I get tired quickly. I really love seeing all my little ones, but wish I had more energy.

This is a recent picture of them all taken by one of my sons in Kent.

Simple pleasures

Over the Christmas period we have seen all our family and all our grandchildren. This is a picture of our "London" grandchildren walking up the lane to the windmill that is next to our house. I am ahead of them.  Our house is to the right, just out of the shot. You can just see the hedge bordering the front garden  on the right hand of the picture. The windmill has recently been restored. It is nearly 200 years old.

Baking

3 yr old baking cakes

This afternoon our "London" grandchildren arrived for a few days. My wife baked buns with them and then went to the windmill next door. It was a very successful and happy afternoon. After bath time playing "Snakes and Ladders" with a 3 year old was a lot more of a challenge.

Grandchildren gone home

Well, the house is almost quiet again after the visit of our son Chris and his family. Just an old friend Josie is still here. She will be leaving soon. Josie is God mum to our smallest granddaughter.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

A delightful photo of our two "Kent" grandchildren taken this autumn in a field near their home this weekend. They are lovely children. We love them lots.

Boys at Whitstable, Kent

Tim. Jo and their children are having a night in Whitstable and this is a photo of our two grandsons taken when they met up with Lauren and children (our son Chris is in school today) this afternoon.

Grandchildren - all four

Last Tuesday we had all the grandchildren together and I took this photo of them all outside our local windmill.

It is incredibly hard to get them to sit still for a photo and this was about the best I could manage! Little Lucinda was just about to run out of shot!

They range in age from 2 to nearly 7 years old (left to right) .

Family day

Today, the "London" grandchildren went home and the "Kent" grandchildren and their mum and dad arrived. In the changeover we had a house full and a good opportunity for the grandchildren to play together and for us to take some family photos.

This is all the family today:

Wet day

As it has been raining most of the day, today was an "indoor play" day for the grandchildren, although the 6yr old visited the local museum yet again. The museum is just over our garden wall. This evening we had to go to the local church yard to collect conkers and hear the church clock strike six. They love going into the church too.

Grandchildren gone home

We love them dearly, and love them coming to stay, but with my current level of fatigue, I find having our youngest grandchildren very hard work. The house is both quiet and tidy again. We miss them and their little ways.

Lucinda with the sweet peas.

Edward with a neighbour's cat.

Kent grandchildren

For the next few days we have our "Kent" grandchildren staying here with their mum and dad. They are very little.

The elder one (now 5) is being sat upon by his 2 year old sister. He enjoyed picking a pile of blackberries with granny from a local hedge.





Here they are sitting on the garden bench enjoying grapes. Our granddaughter loves grapes!

Churches and little ones

What is it that fascinates very little children with old English churches? Yesterday we went to Snailwell church about 4 miles from Burwell.

In Snailwell Church yesterday

Both the "London" grandchildren love it. Neither go to churches normally. The little one  kept saying, "shhh" to us. I have no idea why! They have no religious association with churches, but they both love being inside them.

Snailwell is a very lovely little church with a round flint tower, more like a Norfolk church really. It dates back to the 11th century - very old. There are only about 10-11 regular attendees and they are finding it hard to meet the costs of repairs now.

Bury-St-Edmunds this morning

This morning, we went to Bury-St-Edmunds with the "London" grandchildren. It was so nice to do normal things  such as buy some toy cars in Toymaster,  have a drink and cake in Baileys and visit the toy train shop Model Junction.  Our grandchildren mean the world to us. It is so lovely to see them so happy. On the way home Amandine fell fast asleep in the car.

Grandchildren

For the next few days our "London" grandchildren are staying with us. Like all our grandchildren, they are delightful.  At the moment with my (still) poor health, I find having the little ones here very tiring. This is a picture of the two grandchildren with me after a short walk. We are all sitting on the front garden wall.

London trip

Today we went on a day return to London on the train to be with out son Tim, his wife Jo and our grandchildren Lucien and Amandine. Tim met us and took us back to Kings Cross. Booking in advance and with Senior Rail Cards if works out cheaper than driving. Parking at the station is cheap on Sunday.  At present I cannot drive because of my brain bleed last year.  It was good to spend time in their home again after so long.

With the grandchildren in London today

Totally by accident, we sat next to Nick Swales on the train back from London. I'd not seen Nick since work days over 6 years ago. Many years ago we worked together in several Cambridge companies. Nick is one of the brightest minds I've had the privilege to know. Nick works in London with another old colleague Martin Cooley.

House quiet

The "London" grandchildren returned home yesterday evening, so the house is very quiet again without them . Yesterday morning (early) we found them both (3 and 6.5yrs old)  quietly sitting at the foot of our bed on the carpet. They have been as good as gold, although they had to sleep apart Friday night as the little one was too excited and kept waking up here elder brother!

Yesterday we learnt that Edward (5) who lives near Canterbury, is able to ride his 2-wheeled bike without stabilisers. This is a big step for him.

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.