A PLENTIFUL HARVEST

It has been the most wonderfully bountiful autumn this year – not only in the garden but especially within our family circle.    Days of warm golden sunshine have produced a late harvest of fabulously colourful blossoms  in the garden, and have also gilded our youngest daughter Jenny’s visit home from Australia.

Here are a few of the Supporting Acts….

And now for the Main Event….

We were so thrilled  to welcome Jenny back after well over two years away, and were in a great state of excitement when she arrived here with Jonathan late afternoon on the last day of September.     She looked amazingly fresh and bright after her very long trip, and even managed to do justice to the meal I had prepared – which of course included blackberry and apple crumble, as John and I had picked over 5 lbs from the well-laden hedges just a couple of days before.

Shopping was high on Jenny’s list of Must-Do’s and we did plenty of that, both together with her, or dropping her off to have marathon sessions by herself.   She loved being back amongst her favourite stores, with everything seeming – to her- extremely good value.   Not only did Jenny manage to find lots of great stuff for her newly refurbished home, gifts for the family and (with Alasdair’s birthday-money) some lovely clothes for herself (including the inevitable boots!) – she also knocked off a huge number of presents from her Christmas List – AND manaaged to wrap them all, leaving them here for distribution come the Festive Season.

Jenny emerges from my studio with left-over gift-wrap and ribbons.

Amongst a host of other things,  her Daddy and I took her over to Wales to visit Kerry., who was really chuffed to see her ‘little’ sister again and show her round the beautiful Langland Bay, and catch up with all her news.

Though Jenny’s schedule whilst staying with us was packed full, she  somehow  even found time  to catch up on English newspapers and a pile of magazines I’d kept for her; to have brunch in the sunshine out on our balcony; to have her hair done in Wells, and to enjoy her favourite Mummy-meal of eggs-in-cheese-sauce.

We said what we thought were our final goodbyes on leaving her at her sister Kim’s in Hampshire last Thursday – so were truly amazed and thrilled to find ourselves at a dinner party organised by Jon and Sam at their home in Bucks. onFriday evening. They had somehow managed to gather together ALL FIVE of our ‘children’ under one roof, and John and I were just so deliriously happy.   It was just THE most magical evening for us – I just kept looking at all the joyful faces round the table, taking in all the noise and laughter,  hugging it all into my memory.

Jenny will now be back home again with her three littlies, who will have missed their lovely Mummy terribly, but not half as much as her dear man did, and we are so very grateful to him for loaning his precious lady to us for a while.

Thank you Jenny for bringing so much happiness in your wake.  DO come again!