See
also Danny's blog for lots more family photos .
. .
http://www.dannykarenlisajoe.blogspot.com/
. . . .
STOWES
IN EMSWORTH - 16 July 2015
Jane, Dai, Bronwen and
Rebeca, all the way from Canada, came to Emsworth for
a day and how good it was to see them again. Golly,
how the girls had grown. Mary also arrived from Lewes
in her smart car. Jean had a great lunch prepared and
we all sat in the garden which was nice and warm.
Rebeca reminded me a lot of Lola for her bubbly
humour. Danny and Karen popped in later with Lisa and
Joe after school.
Bronwen
and Rebeca having lunch on the
patio
Lunch
in the shade of the old cherry
tree

Everyone
turning out to see Mary start up her smart
car

Group
photo (including me) taken by our
neighbour

AMBERLEY
- 15 July 2015
Jean and I paid a
one-day 'flying visit' to Amberley - thanks to a lift
there and back by the indefatigable William. We went
mainly to see Nell's school show 'Lorax' in which Nell
played the part of Grammy Norma, an old lady with a
walking stick. The show was brilliant and so was Nell!
I did not have my camera at the show so no pictures
alas, but Rachel prepared a great fish pie for our
dinner followed by a delicious summer pudding
decorated with birthday candles.
Rachel's
surprise was hearing about the price of wild flower
seeds from Will's
catalogue
Reggie
kindly gave us a short recital on his violin and very
good he was too

LUNCH AT KINGSTON
- 5 July 2015
Jean and I were
invited over to Kingston for Sunday lunch with Mary,
George and Lola. Lola had her friend, Louis also
staying. The big excitement for the children was the
new plunge pool erected by George in the garden which
Lola and Louis had great fun in. Jean and I had not
brought our swimmers!

Lola
and Louis sleeping it off in the summer
house

LOOKING AFTER LILY AND IRIS
- 30 June to 3 July 2015
Jean and I went over
to the Isle of Wight to look after Lily and Iris as
Julia was away on a school trip in Spain and Pete had
to attend a conference in Winchester. The girls were
really good and did not need a great deal of 'looking
after', though the weather was rather hot while we
were there!
How's
this for you Iris? Oh, no! Not spag bol yet again!
Lily
was adept at watering the plants on the allotment and
picking the fruit!

Snakes
and ladders before school

Off to
school with Grandma

Iris
having her toe nails painted. Lily had hers done
too!

All
ready for Brownies

LILY AND
IRIS ON BROOK MEADOW - 15 June 2015
Pete, Lily and Iris
stayed for a night with us in Emsworth on their way
home from camping with Danny and Joe. On the Monday we
went for a walk through Brook Meadow. Pete and Iris
rested at the north bridge for a moment looking for
fish. The river has a good quantity of Brown Trout.
The girls really
enjoyed walking through the tall grasses on the north
meadow and (as they always do) asked me to cut off a
couple of Butterbur 'umbrellas' for them to hold.
These large leaves are so much loved by all children.
We also had a look at
the orchids where the girls particularly liked the Bee
Orchids and actually found a couple of new ones that I
had not previously recorded. They have sharper eyes
than me. Here they are with the top of one Bee Orchid
that I inadvertantly snapped off while trying to clear
away an entanglement of bindweed. At least, my
clumsiness gave them the opportunity to appreciate the
beauty of the flower at close quarters.

On the way back we
called in at the town millpond to see the swan family
with their 5 very healthy cygnets.
LISA
AND JOE ON BROOK MEADOW - 1 June 2015
Jean and I
looked after Lisa and Joe for the morning as the
school was closed for an inset day. The weather was
fine so we had a walk through Brook Meadow.
Lisa
and Joe loved walking through the tall grasses on the
meadow
"Taller than me" says Joe
I
showed them the orchids, but their favourite was the
buttercups

CAMBER SANDS HOLIDAY
- 29-31 May 2015
Jean and I
spent a nice weekend at Camber Sands Holiday resort
with Mary, George and Lola. Thanks to Mary for booking
us separate but spacious caravans on this site near
the shore. The weather was not too good while we were
there, being windy, wet and stormy at times, but we
all enjoyed the stay.
On
Saturday we all went into Rye for the morning.
Here are Mary and Jean on one of the picturesque
cobbled streets
Mary,
Lola and Jean climbed up the church tower, while
George and I stayed below
Note Jean hanging onto the parapet, just in case

On
Saturday afternoon we went onto the beach at Camber.
Very very windy!

Dinky
enjoyed racing around the
sands

Lola
digging a hole in the sand while Brian acts the fool
for the camera

I went
onto the dunes to escape the wind. They were
marvellous and went on for miles.

I had
an unexpected find of Houndstongue - a rare plant

Lola
came over to our caravan on a wet Sunday morning
We played Connect - for money - and Lola won
£9

BUCKINGHAM
PALACE GARDEN PARTY - 12 May 2015
Well the big
day finally arrived. Jean has been thinking about it
for months, particularly about what to wear, and
particularly on her head! In the end she borrowed a
hat from her friend Pat Tull and it looked good,
though it did get a bit blown around in the wind. The
day was fantastic. The weather was kind, but for the
wind, and the garden party was excellent, particularly
the food! We had a fairly distant view of the Queen
and the Royal Family, though we did not really expect
anything more. We were very small fry. Before the
party started we were able to have a walk right round
the large garden and lake which was lovely.
We really appreciated Mary meeting us at Victoria
Station and her carrying our bits and pieces that we
could not take into the Palace. It said specifically
on our instructions that no photography was allowed in
the Palace grounds, so I did not take my camera in and
all our photos were taken by Mary outside. As it
happened, everyone was taking photos inside with their
phones, but we did not have one!
Mary
did a recce before we arrived and found a Brown's
Restaurant
that would be suitable for us to have lunch and get
changed
Here
we are waiting in a fairly long queue to go through
security.
Jean's hat getting blown about.

A nice
one of Jean with her hat in
place

and,
of course, I had my own hat to keep the sun
off

Waiting
to go in watched closely by armed
police

JOE
HAS PLASTER REMOVED - 20 April 2015
Joe had a
little fall while skiing down the slopes at Chamonix
which resulted in his having a plaster cast on his
left leg. It was not broken, but ligaments had ben
damaged. Today, he had the plaster removed!
Karen brought him round to our place for the morning
and we had a very slow walk round the millpond. We
stopped at Flintstone's for lunch where Joe ordered
beans on toast with bacon and egg. He loved it.
In the afternoon I drove Karen and Joe over to St
Richard's hospital fracture clinic for Joe to have the
cast removed. The appointment was 2.30 and they went
in on time and were out by 3pm which was most
impressive for a hospital.
Hobbling
down Bridge Road with Papa and Multi
We all
stopped to enjoy the Cuckooflowers on the
wayside

Joe
back home with the cast
gone!

FAMILY GET
TOGETHER - 6 April 2015
Will and
family arrived from Brighton. They left Nell at
Kingston with Mary and Lola. They were followed
closely by Pete and family who had been staying at
Amberley. We all tucked into Jean's lunch comprising
ham-quiche, sausages, salad, crisps, bread, etc. We
all sat outside in the warm sunshine. It was great to
see many of the family together again, particularly
those from Amberley who we don't get to see too often
these days. Gosh, Freddy is so tall!


Reggie
loves the farm

HOT
CROSS BUNS - 2 April 2015
We had our
traditional hot cross buns a day earlier than usual as
Pete and Julia and the girls called in on their way to
London. Danny came round to enjoy the feast with Lisa
and Joe. Note Iris on the stairs.
Julia
showing the girls photos on her
phone.

PORTSMOUTH DOCKYARD
- 2 April 2015
After the
buns, Danny, Lisa, Joe, Jean and I went down to the
dockyard for the historic ships. Here are Lisa and Joe
showing off their mountaineering skills.
We had hoped to go to
the submarine at Gosport, but we missed the boat, so
we went on The Warrior instead which we all enjoyed,
as you can see.
LOLA
ON BROOK MEADOW - 1 April 2015
Mary, George
and Lola (plus Dinky the dog) paid us a visit on their
way back from an appointment at Southampton General
Hospital. The hospital news was good with Lola
declared in good health. Today we walked down to The
Deck for lunch going through Brook Meadow where I took
a few photos.
Here
we are on the north bridge with Lola looking for the
Pike that I told her
about
Lola
showing off her glamour T-shirt with Dinky just
visible behind

Lola
could not resist climbing on her favourite tree over
the river

JEAN'S
LAST DAY - 23 March 2015
After 21 years
of voluntary service at the Emsworth Pastoral Centre
serving coffee, Jean finally decided to call it a day.
Here she is on the last lap with fellow helper June.
LOLA
AT SCHOOL - 18 March 2015
Jean and I
were invited to the annual Grandparents' Spring Tea
Party at Kingston Primary School. After the show, we
were invited to go round the various classes. Here is
Lola in her class with one of the iPads that the
children now use to do their sums!
KIDS
FOOTBALL - 15 March 2015
RED
NOSE DAY - 13-14 March 2015

LOLA'S BEDROOM - 9 March 2015
KIDS FOOTBALL - 4 January 2015

IRIS and LILY with their pony - 15 March
2015
IRIS THE TEENAGER (to come) - 2 January
2015
For
earlier photos go to . . Family
photos 2014 from September to December