We spent last weekend with the Hampshire Tilleys, along with Steven and Sherry, in Chandlers Ford. The weather was hot and sunny, perfect for a barbeque, once we had spent a couple of hours being entertained by Bridget and Megan. The older ladies, Bridget and Grannie Chas, were doing something quiet and refined in the “family room” – the large kitchen/dining/sitting room that opens directly onto the garden through large patio doors. I’m not sure exactly what they were doing, but it seemed to involve and i-pad.
We young and active folk, that’s me and Megan, were amusing ourselves on the trampoline, playing tag, and “who can jump the highest”. I never quite got the hang of the various rules, since Megan was in charge of such procedural matters, and so the rules seemed to be somewhat flexible, with the aim of ensuring that Grandpa Coops never had a rest. I had made the mistake of promising to play with Megan until Uncle Steven could take over. Uncle Steven caught a later than expected train, and by the time he arrived I was exhausted. Cycling keeps my leg muscles in reasonable shape, but I hadn’t realised how trampolining exerts the shoulders, which ached by the time we all settled down for a well-deserved beer and BBQ. Grannie Chas did manage some vigorous and stylish trampline excercises later in the afternoon.
After the barbeque we put bikes and scooters in the back of my car, and we all drove to a cycle track/surfaced path that I think links Southampton and Winchester. We walked/cycled/scooted (wheeled transport was limited to three bikes and a scooter) along the path for a couple of miles or so into Winchester, following the banks of the River Itchen, and then went through the Cathedral grounds to the pedestrianized City centre, where we found somewhere to settle outside for a coffee and cake.
During our return trip, Chris, Bridget and I took a detour, climbing St Catherine’s Hill for some great views across Winchester and the countryside, before we descended steps on the far side to re-join the path and catch up with the others.
It was late evening by the time we got back to Chandlers Ford, time for a late tea, and a bedtime story for the girls, before the grown-ups settled down to an evening of games, wine, and a cheeseboard accompanied by port. Excellent.
The following morning Chantal, Sherry and I joined Chris and the girls, and went back into Winchester where we watched the girls have swimming lessons. No cameras allowed, although Chantal did sneak a couple of photos using her phone – but since she hasn’t provided them for me, maybe they weren’t up to her high standard. Megan swam first, swimming lengths using various strokes, and learning when to breath. Megan has just been “promoted” to this class, and was the smallest swimmer, gamely following the others along the lane allocated to her class. It won’t be long before she is no longer the smallest fish in the pool.
Bridget’s class followed half an hour later. Much of it followed the same format as Megan’s, although clearly the standard was higher and the swimming faster. Bridget definitely holds her own in her class, and was one of the faster swimmers. Eventually the instructor produced plastic cups, and each swimmer filled the cup with a few cm of water, lay back in the water, placed the cup on their forehead, and set off for the far end. Bridget managed the entire length without a spill – it was heart-in-the-mouth stuff for us grandparents! I had to stop myself from cheering when she achieved a full length – there were several other classes going on in adjacent lanes, and Bridget just might have found Grandpa to be a bit too embarrassing. On the return leg Bridget had a little trouble getting the cup in the right spot on her forehead, and so there were a couple of spills before she successfully completed the final half length with the cup staying firmly in place. Incidentally, the girls had a slight advantage during this exercise – rubber swimming hats. The tension wasn’t over, since the lesson finished with paired back-stroke races. Bridget was paired with a boy, and they were neck and neck for most of the length, but Bridget pulled ahead in the last few meters – once again Grandpa had to supress a cheer.
The afternoon was particularly hot, and we all relaxed in the sunshine, apart for Chris and Lucy. Chris slaved over a hot stove, and Lucy assisted with the preparation and presentation. I got sacked as paper-napkin-arranger, since I got distracted, and left the napkins nicely presented in a neat pile in the middle of the table, and so Lucy had to take over to set them out properly. We had a wonderful roast lamb dinner, perfectly cooked, followed by desert.
After dinner Chris set up the sprinkler on the lawn for child-watering purposes. Bridget and Megan had fun running through the cool water, and soon persuaded the grown-ups to join in. We both managed to dry off before we had to leave a 4 o’clock to ensure that we were back in time to collect the dogs from our dog-sitting friend. We had a wonderfully relaxing time, as always.
Photos from the weekend are in “Our Recent Photos”.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
