CIRENCESTER

 It’s been a lovely three days of catch up and adventures.

On Sunday, Rachel’s daughter, Kitty, arrived.  She has a birthday a couple of days after mine and so we had a combined birthday celebration - champagne, sparklers and 🎶 the appropriate song.  We were joined by Gabriel (my youngest niece) and the 3 men in her life and we went down to a local restaurant for yet another delicious meal (pork belly for me).

                                           Kitty standing outside Philip and Rosemary’s house

                         (L to R) Dean, Philip, his sister, Kitty, Nye and Idris, Rosemary, Gabriel.

On Monday, Kitty, P, R and I went for a lovely walk through Cirencester Park (Earl Bathurst Estate) featuring, amongst other things, polo grounds (where Princes William and Harry and their father occasionally played … in the past, if not recently, at least) tennis courts and 3000 acres of parkland and follies.  

One such - not Kitty, but the carved tree trunk - still standing where it always stood AND another restaurant, where P and I had courgette soup and I think Kitty had a burger. (I was too busy admiring various dogs, sitting at their owners’ feet IN the restaurant to be certain - clearly very much at home and well behaved).  Philip says it was a 2 mile stroll … in very pleasant, mild sunny weather.  My insteps would question that … but those stairs could have something to do with the overall discomfort, too.

I’m presently back with Ray in Reading, packing my bag, but later today am moving on to Sevenoaks for 3 days.  I’ll introduce those folk in my next update … IF I can still manage the photos.