On the 21st August we drove to Brookwood in Surrey. The other Brookwood, the Brookwood where we lived for nearly thirty years before upping sticks and moving to the far north. Brookwood with possibly the largest cemetery in Western Europe,
combining the upright precision of military graves
with the tumble down, neglected wonderfully overgrown graves of long ago.Ramshackled and in disrepair. Angels with missing limbs, hands and sometimes heads.
The Basingstoke Canal ambled along at the end of our garden
and disused machinery, no longer working, sat on the towpath.
But this wasn't a visit for nostalgia. We came to celebrate a most important occasion.
Mrs Lambert's 100th Birthday!
Mrs Lambert wasn't exactly outside Buckingham Palace when she showed me her card from the Queen, she was in the Brookwood Memorial Hall - just a bit of artistic licence you understand!
Mrs Lambert was our neighbour for many years in Brookwood. I'm sure she wouldn't mind me saying she was already old when we first knew her. She still sends our children birthday cards. She's amazing and it felt an honour to be part of her birthday celebrations.
By contrast as we returned home to the new Brookwood we had a visitor who is right at the other end of the scale
Baby Olek brought his mum and dad, Em and Dan to stay for a few days
He has the biggest eyes, and although I'm not his real granny
I felt very proud of him and every time I looked at him went 'Aaahh'
Mummy's are best
Now there is a lull with no more visitors or travelling for a while. And I know I have to turn my thoughts back to the house and all the jobs that still need to be done. I've put off even thinking about decorating through the summer, but I'm running out of excuses not to start!
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