Jackie spent the morning planting the pansies and spring bulbs in place of the ficus.
The bamboo in the Oval Bed tends to send tentacles under the rock border and into the gravel path. At the first sign of a sucker piercing the shingle, excavation has to be carried out. This was my task.
This afternoon, Jackie drove us to Walkford for Daphne and Ray Salinger’s Platinum Anniversary party. Apart from one picture, I recorded the event in Black and White, which seemed appropriate.
Here, Ray examines the album Ron had made up largely from the prints I had produced.
He then posed with his wife.
Over lunch They both looked again at the historic photos, the album here held by Donna.
The best way of approaching the splendidly plentiful buffet was to heap your plate with those selections you could fit onto it, then return for seconds of the other dishes.
The day was warm and sunny enough for many guests, entertained by Ben, a professional guitarist, to sit outside.
The couple’s great niece, her husband, her father-in-law and a great great niece enjoyed the sunshine,
whilst Helen enjoyed great granddaughter Imogen.
Ron made a speech in honour of his parents,
and Ray gave a witty reply.
He and Daphne then cut the cake made by Shelly,
who helped her mother-in-law slice it.
Finally, all assembled for group photographs.
And the one colour picture?
Here it is.
This evening I watched the second half of the South Africa v. Japan World Cup rugby match, and the whole of France v. Italy. In deference to anyone yet to watch a recorded version, I will not give the results, but I will say that the last five minutes of the first of these games was as thrilling as any finish I have seen.