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.

Missing "the promised land"

My dad, who died in 1987, used to call Salcombe in the South Hams of Devon "the promised land".  Whenever we returned from being away he would say "the promised land" out loud in the car. Maybe to him it represented real home, security and a freedom, away from the horrors of WW2 in those dark years before 1945.

Because of my illness, I have been unable to get to the South Hams this year, so far.   I really miss it.  It is, without doubt, the best place on Earth. Some of the unspoilt coastal walks are just spectacularly beautiful. I hope to get back there before too long.

Front lawn cut

This afternoon I managed to cut the front lawn. It took me 35 minutes, without breaks, which is the fastest yet. Last time it was 45 minutes.  At the end I was well and truly "cream crackered" but again I managed it. Weather permitting our son will cut the rear lawn tomorrow.

Burwell Windmill

Although this has recently been refurbished and now sports four fine sails, there is still an issue with the cap rotation. This is currently being fixed.

Today there has been a man on a hoist undercoating the cap - rather him than me! This photo was taken from our front garden. The man is visible more clearly if you click to enlarge the photo.  He is painting the cap. Imagine doing this on the end of a rope, this far off the ground, and managing not to spill a drop of paint!

See http://www.burwellmuseum.org.uk/  .

Newmarket and Bury-St-Edmunds shopping

This morning, my wife and I went into our local market town of Newmarket. We usually shop in the local Waitrose but today also had to call in to the local Halifax branch there as well.

Newmarket is an excellent place for local shopping as it is just 10 minutes away by car. Parking is free at Waitrose for a couple of hours. For clothes, we usually go to Cambridge or Bury-St-Edmunds.

For the next few days we have our "London" grandchildren staying so a visit to Bury-St-Edmunds is likely. Prevsner loved Bury-St-Edmunds describing it as "one of the loveliest little towns in Britain". Indeed it is. A real gem of a place. We love trips there. Our younger son got married there too.

McIlroy wins the Open today

I see McIlroy has won the Open golf today.

Although I usually follow the golf when on terrestrial TV,  I managed to miss most of the British Open this week. I see McIlroy won by a couple of shots, although he had a 6 stroke lead at one point. He held his nerve in the end. In previous attempts his nerve has failed him.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/28393535  .