Mary's gallery opening

Our friend Mary had a gallery opening tonight in Lewes, so I went down there with the Filskows (in their camping van) as well as with a neighbour called Kerri. It was a really lovely evening, and I had many good conversations with people about Rhiannon. I've been feeling so worried and excited and scared for her with her Costa Rica adventure leading straight into the Principia adventure. It was really nice to chat and enjoy the evening with some good people.

I love this photo of Mary waving at me with her gorgeous paintings in the background and her name on the glass gallery front.

Visit from Laura and fam

My friend and former colleague Laura happened to be passing through the area with her family, so we invited them over for dinner. It was wonderful to spend time together as families :-)

We did miss having Rhiannon here with us, though.

The new shelf

 Finally Rhodri put up a shelf in the kitchen to get all the coffee and tea accessories off the counter top!

Costa Rica - week 1

Week 1: Camp Terraba in the south of Costa Rica, working on building a SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) center and ecological visit to an indigenous reserve, and then completing the PADI open water scuba course in Papagayo!

We are so proud of her!

Some garden photos

 This has been a strange season for the vegetable garden.  The peas and the cosmos have been happily growing together, the squash are coming along, and the three sunflowers are nice and tall.

The rest of the yard is dry and dead looking, it has been so hot and dry this summer!

Suuuper hot

We have had record breaking temperatures here yesterday and today. Fortunately, VERY fortunately, our friends Vessy and Carl have been housesitting at this crazy mansion place down the road and they invited us to come for a swim in the pool! This is literally my dream come true, as I've always wondered about this place, since even before we moved here.

In fact, Rhodri and I came down for a swim around 1pm during our lunch break and went for a dip, then back to work for a few hours until Tryfan got home from school and then we all went down there. By this time, the massive front was moving in and the clouds were spectacular.  It was such a luxury to splash around in the pool and chill out with friends.

We maybe stayed a bit too long and had a few too many adult beverages, because as we started pedaling to go home, Rhodri got attacked by a rose bush...

She is off

We all got up at 03:00 today in order to take her to the bus at 04:00.  Rhiannon hardly slept anyway; in fact, Rhodri and I didn't sleep that well either.  Tryfs was fine though!  He got up to give her a good send off, but said his goodbye in our driveway before going back to sleep.  

Anyway, we got to the car park under a bright waning gibbous moon and even a few stars still visible.  It was a dramatic scene as the clusters of families said their goodbyes and all the young ones got onto the coach to head off to London Heathrow.  

For Rhiannon, it is the start of a new chapter as she will go on from Costa Rica to the USA, and won't be back to England until December.

Rhods and I drove home and went straight back to sleep for a few hours, and then worked a bit in the garden, read the paper, and did other hot sunny Saturday activities.  I felt spaced out all day, and thank goodness we had something to look forward to later in the afternoon: watching the Wales v South Africa rugby game at the Denslow's house at 4pm. 

When I think too much about it, I feel my chest tighten and my nose tingle, which normally pre-empts tears to pool and stream.  It's gonna be weird without her here.

Last supper (on the deck)

Tonight was Rhiannon's last night at home with us this summer, and we had take out from Roochi as our meal.  Tomorrow is the big day!

Tunbridge Wells

 Rhiannon and I went into Royal Tunbridge Wells to look for some last minute items for her Costa Rica adventure and also for school.  Although we were only there for a couple of hours, we made time to have a nice lunch.

Extended family

It has been really great to have Sions, Gwydion and Winnie staying with us for the few extra days. Such a luxury to have these dear souls near to us.

Balloon people

We were surprised to find a hot air balloon fly right over our house! We could even hear the people in the basket and see them waving back at us. Kinda creepy but also fun.

Village send off at the Jubilee Green

Today we had a nice gathering at the Jubilee Green so that our friends and family could have a chance to say bon voyage to Rhiannon.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a good turnout, although some of our good friends sadly contracted Covid at the last minute and couldn't come.  Here are Rhiannon and Evie..

And some of the scenes at the Green..

After having food we had a big game of Ultimate Frisbee: Kids vs. Adults.  It was really fun and we played until the frisbee broke, then everyone went home. It is a Sunday night after all!

It felt good to hold the space and give Rhiannon a really good send off. Of course there were a few tears, but we are all very excited for Rhiannon to go to Costa Rica for a month and then off to St. Louis for Junior and Senior years of high school (rather than doing A-levels in England).

The big send off - family style

This weekend we had Nain, Taid, Gabriel, Valentin, Sioned, JJ and baby Gwydion stay with us for Rhiannon's final weekend before leaving.  

They arrived on Friday night and then we got to spend all of Saturday doing fun things throughout the day.

At one point we were all in our bedroom figuring out what to pre-order for dinner at The Crown in Horsted Keynes.  And later we played crazy golf at Heaven Farm. It was really hot but we survived!

Then we got dressed up for dinner.

Tomorrow we are having a gathering at the Jubilee Green for a chance to have friends say goodbye, but it sure is nice to have lots of family around for a few days.

Mamma Mia

 Rhiannon, Aggie and I went into London to see Mamma Mia the musical this afternoon. It was quite a day!  First of all, it was Chief's Day - my dear old Dad's birthday although he is no longer with us to celebrate this yearly event. My siblings and Mom and I like to do something special in our own respective lives on this day to mark the occasion. We all miss him so much.  

Secondly, today happened to be the day that Boris Johnson announced that he is stepping down as Prime Minister, and we happened to be walking past Downing Street at the moment that he was giving this announcement outside in the street!!

It was a stunningly beautiful day, with big dramatic clouds and mild temperatures.

I did end up being quite tearful during the performance.  I guess it is the music and the memories about Rhiannon's childhood that just feel so precious and poignant.  Back when she was 3 years old at Aannerudtoppen barnehage in Norway, she used to sing the songs from Mamma Mia all the time!  Its amazing how music can be so powerful.  Anyway, it was a really beautiful and fun afternoon, and I'm so grateful I got to spend it with my gorgeous girl and Aggie. 

Working in the yard

Rhods has been diligently working on improvements to the back garden. This area next to the hedge looks really good now.