Here is the extended mix..........On Thursday last, the 17th June we drove to the tiny village Church where Richard was baptised in Kelsale in Suffolk to the funeral of his childhood neighbour Tony W.
For him it was a lovely chance to catch up with friends he hadn't seen for maybe 55 years. For me it was a nightmare of grief and fear. Ricardo had taken a sleeping pill the night before and had turned into a groggy, monosyllabic stranger. I have no experience of sleeping pills and their side effects, especially upon someone with liver cancer; I thought his illness had taken a turn and we were about to have to call an ambulance at a funeral. I didn't know a soul at the Church and Richard's wobbly state made everyone a little wary of him. You could see them wondering why were we attending this event? There was no way I could tell them the scenario. All I could see was the widow weeping in the front pew.
After the Church we went on to the tiny pub called the Poachers Pocket where Richard's Dad used to drink in the 1950's before they went to Australia. More memories. As we sat to one side of the beer garden, we managed to talk to the sister of the man who had passed away. To my further distress it seems Tony had died very quickly of liver cancer at the age of 60. Richard and I had to keep quiet and not ad any further grief to a sister's worries. As we drove away, I started to sob and ended up uncontrollably wailing as Richard tried to console me through his soporific haze. How could I explain to him how I was feeling? In the end I calmed down and slept as Richard drove the rest of the way to Heathrow where we had a room booked at a cheap Ibis hotel (which was actually really quiet, clean and nice) in order to wait for our darling ROXI to come and find us after flying all the way from Australia. Never was a daughter more needed!!!! Never was a daughter so amazingly up for the challenge and full of calm practicality. Thank you dearest Roxi.
So after catching up and calming down over the rest of Friday and Saturday we drove over to Wyken Vineyard for a Fathers day lunch. Not quite sure how much lunching would be done as there hasn't been a great deal of appetite lately. We did however manage to eat lunch then walk around the entire gardens then have afternoon tea as well. Crikey.
Here is the lucky dad..
and all three of us squinting at that weird thing that appeared in the sky. Is it called a sun?
Roxi caught these peacock chicks with their Mumma. (All these photos in fact were taken by her)
What a beautiful tail.
This rose reminds me of that toothpaste you can get that spirals out of the tube in two colours.
The man himself. Chirpy now as it's the afternoon and all sleeping pills have worn off.
Roxi our shining star.
There are no bumblebees in Australia so they hold a particular fascination for us Aussies.
