The Top Field

It is reassuring to know that
the lush folds of hills and valleys
and the rivulets of hedges
will be exactly the same today
as they were last year
and the year before that.

MasterM, Celebrity Chef

Last night we had a cooking competition
for all the different dorms
...we cooked a Springbok Neck Potjie...
and I think we won!

MrsM is very proud of MasterM who has demonstrated a previously undiscovered talent for cooking. Regretfully, the restricted availability of springbok neck in the local supermarket will limit his opportunity to demonstrate his signature dish when he is at home so she hopes that he expands his repertoire.

The Ceremony of The Key

"and finally..."
says the Examinations Officer

(whom we all admire for his efficiency
and meticulous attention to detail)

"...I must give you the Special Key
which was given to me by my predecessor
and has been passed down
from one Examinations Officer to the next."

The new Examinations Officer appreciates
the significance of the moment
and asks respectfully

"What is special about The Key?"

The retiring Examinations Officer pauses for effect

"It opens any door in the Department!"

The new Examinations Officer is impressed.
The retiring Examinations Officer looks at his bunch of keys...

"Oh bother!
They all look the same.
I will have to go and try them out
to work out which is which."

MrsM realises that he has already handed over
The Mantle of Infallibility.

A Golden Day

Imagine a sunny Sunday at Burghley

surrounded by all your family
gathered to celebrate a Golden Wedding

Brothers and sister, children, grandchildren,
cousins: first, second, third and all stages removed.

The best man was there too
and three bridesmaids
who all remembered the windy day in Lincoln
which was the very start of the fifty years.

We drank the strawberry punch
and chatted
and ate the delicious food
and chatted some more
and enjoyed the spectacular Croquembouche.

And of course we toasted the happy couple:
Many congratulations to my Parents-in-Law
Thomas and Audrey

Variation On a Theme

I start with the vague idea of researching
the Parade of Painted Parasols in Kyoto...

Woman with a Parasol in the garden of Argenteuil
Monet

but it is Sunday evening
and it has been a busy weekend...

Under the Birches
Edelfelt Koivujen

I decide that what I really, really want
is a pretty picture (or three...)
to look at on Monday morning...

The Blue Japanese Parasol
Martha Walter

Shallow?
Moi?

Beyond the Sun

In a rare moment of quiet
MasterM looks through my photos...

Why did you take this sunset sequence?
he asks

It was a happy evening with good news
and I wanted to remember it.
I reply
I asked MrM to drive towards the sun
and every now and then he stopped
so that I could take a photo.

MasterM nods.
He understands.

Which one is your favourite?
he asks

This one - I don't know why - it just is.
I reply

That is my favourite too.
he says

*****

MasterM is back in South Africa now.
He returns at Christmas.

Helen's Garden Party

I know that I promised not to mention china...

or flowers...

or cake...

(particularly not chocolate cake...)

but I was invited to tea
in a very pretty garden,
filled with lavender and agapanthus

by Helen, a lovely friend
that I have known
since before MasterM was born.

What could I do?

Especially as it was all in aid of
The Alzheimers Society

I only wish that I had taken more photographs.

Hungry now?

(just for the record)

There have been so many new babies
in the Department this year
that my budget for celebration flowers
has been joyfully stretched to the limit.

1.
We know the date and wait for news.
The email arrives:
"I have a beautiful baby daughter..."

2.
They stare solemnly out of the photo,
little French twins, petit pois.

3.
She is swaddled and sleeping.
Her parents looked shocked with sleeplessness.

4.
He is a placid baby
and smiles slowly,
showing two pearly teeth,
when I bounce him on my knee.

5.
I shut the door and make her sit down.
She leans back in the chair beside my desk
and relaxes while I hold the baby.

6.
He leaves the office with Post-It notes
on his jumper
and on his nose
and on his little chubby fingers.

7.
She is very shy...
but she blows me a kiss...
much to the surprise of her father and mother.

8.
He is clutching a miniature Woolly Mammoth.
Not difficult to guess whose son he is.

9.
She is proud of her baby brother
but the lure of the swivel chair
is too distracting to maintain the image
of a responsible two year old Big Sister for long.

10.
Will this little boy,
hiding behind his father's legs,
be good with computers too?

11.
She is younger than me
but is already a grandmother.
I look at the photo of her tiny grand-daughter
and wonder what the future holds for me.

12.
Somewhere in Edinburgh
the newest little Geographer is asleep
on the edge of the world that awaits him.

Island Hopping

Bronze Age fresco from Minoan town at Akrotiri, Santorini.

MissM is on Santorini
with her friends:
the Talented MissA and the Sassy MissS.
Tomorrow she sails for Crete.

She tells us she is 'busy on the beach'.

Very reassuring...
it is so worrying when children are idle.

On Friendship

Some time ago Lynn posted a picture of a paeony
just because she knew that I loved them.
I was immensely touched by this gesture.

This is my reciprocal picture:
Roses for Lynn
(without whom Blogland would be a very dull place).

I have had other reasons to be grateful to blog-friends recently:
emails which have made me laugh,
emails which have given me encouragement
and so many wonderful comments.

And a small parcel of badges from Lucille
Peter Pan and Wendy; Tinkerbell and MasterM's favourite:
'How About It, Wendy?'
MasterM was mystified
'Why would anyone go to so much trouble
when they don't even know me?'
I tried to explain that through blogging
I have met wonderful and generous people.

Thank you all for your friendship,