"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.

USA and Cuba talking

Like many of my age, I was at school in the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis. I remember going to school wondering if we would be in a nuclear war before the day ended. I was terrified and greeted the peace that broke out at the weekend as if life had started again. Years later I found out that it was even closer than anyone of us knew.

Image is on Wikipedia site.
"LeMay Cuban Missile Crisis". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LeMay_Cuban_Missile_Crisis.jpg#/media/File:LeMay_Cuban_Missile_Crisis.jpg

I find it odd that relations between the USA and Cuba have been so distant for so many years. The Cuban Missile crisis was 1962 and we are now in 2015. At long last, moves are being started to defrost the hostility. Not a minute too soon.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-32263880 .

Churches Blog Updated

Yesterday we visited the oldest building in Cambridge. This is St Bene't's Church (opposite the famous Eagle Pub where Crick and Watson cracked the secrets of DNA). It is very close to the original Cavendish Labs and the world famous Corpus clock (modern - looks like a gold disc with an over-sized insect on top) which is about 100m to the left along the road.

The church dates back to 1000AD. I have updated  our East Anglian Churches Blog accordingly.

So tired

Narrowboats on the R.Cam

This morning we did a walk totalling about 2km down to Bottisham Lock on the River Cam and back.  It involved climbing over 3 stiles. I just cut our back lawn this afternoon.  Now I am totally exhausted!

Give me an hour and I'll be OK, but cutting the grass was so very exhausting, even with 3 breaks.  In normal circumstances I would have been tired, but today it was a combination of (a) the first proper cut at the right blade height this season, so cutting was extra hard and (b) my cerebellum brain bleed after-effects.

Normally I can manage to cut both front and back lawns in one go, but I was just too exhausted to do the front lawn today. Maybe tomorrow?

Overall, I still think I am mending, but my level of fatigue after most physical and mental effort is still very high.

Swallows in Cambridgeshire

The Cambridge Bird Club "What's About" page is now reporting swallows locally again.

Usually I see swallows in Devon in the first week of April, but it is often mid-April until I see them around up here. I guess if you look hard you will see the odd one or two earlier.

The image on the RHS is on the RSPB site and not here. It will be immediately removed if causing copyright or other issues.

See http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/swallow/

Returning swallows

The Devon Wildlife website is now reporting the return of lots of swallows. This is good news. Spring returns!

Needless deaths

The world has recently seen a spate of needless deaths. Life is precious and this is so very sad. My wife and I were debating who was killed in the IRA car bomb on the UK parliament in 1979. I thought it was someone else, but it was Airey Neave.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airey_Neave .