Caravan time

As I mentioned, we had a brief four night holiday away in our caravan, which used to belong to old friends from ECF , so if anyone is still in touch with R&L, please point this picture out.

One of our neighbours

and the heart of the hamlet where we were pitched. We have spent the past week working on the village quarterly which arrived back from the printers tonight. Now all packaged into delivery bundles my responsibilities are over till next time. Now we are off to visit Miss P for a while. She and I are going on a retreat together but HoF says we won't be able to stop talking long enough for any quiet! He has a Mark Knopfler concert to look forward to.
My garden is looking a treat. We have redone the triangular bed where roots had taken over, removed everything and put in a cryptomeria which has been living in a tub on the front porch for some years. Now, if we could talk to the plants how useful it would be to be able to say 'just grow to here, then stop'. Doesn't look as though we'll have any parsnips this winter though as they haven't germinated. Maybe they will have by the time I get back, if we have some rain.
Two good books recommended to me by eldest 'granddaughter' are The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson and No Shame, No Fear by Ann Turnbull. I got them from the library just before it closed while the hall is being refurbished. Just hope it comes back, as in some places they have libraries but without librarians which must be very robotic.

Portrait

How nice is this! A portrait of Grandma with her house and car by a Big Girl in Switzerland. Glad to see I have a smile on my face and not my usual relaxed grimace.
We are revelling in the warm weather this weekend and managing to keep abreast of the work on the next edition of the village mag. We had a few days away in the caravan just as the weather improved, took it all of ten miles away! Easy-peasy, but far enough to feel like another world. Did lots of walking, cycling (or more walking when hills occurred) and reading and just watching the cows in the next field. Our poor old van is falling apart but there isn't another one like it to replace it with so we hope it lasts a while yet.
I've also begun to fill up the veggie patch now that the cold weather has gone, just have to keep watering it at the mo but mustn't complain about that. Lettuce, chard, broad beans, runner beans, broccoli are in. And wonderful to relate HoF has removed the spare might-come-in handy-toilet from the greenhouse, along with the sacks of sand and spare cupboard door, so for the first time I have tomatoes, peppers and aubergine plants in there. Only four pots in total but it's a start.