Where To Start

I don’t think that I’ve gone this long without blogging for a few years but life has been somewhat hectic recently and it was 28^th August when I left you with news of my success with the metal detector. A few days later I compounded that success with another of those superb little cut silver half pennies. This one is from the realm of Henry III and in lovely condition. It’s the law in Scotland that we have to report all our finds to a museum so I’ve notified Stuart Campbell in Edinburgh Museum and he’s asked to see the coins for recording in the Scottish Coins Register and wants to see everything else I’ve found in the same field, just in case I’ve not recognised what I’ve got (I hope he enjoys looking at scraps of lead and shotgun cartridge cases).

After that it was time to head down south again to visit our Rochester family. It’s six weeks since baby Catherine arrived and we couldn’t wait to see her. She’s grown so much and is a beautiful bonny little thing. We’re so proud of our two grandchildren. On Friday we took Catherine and her mommy to Ightham Mote – a National Trust property a short drive from their home in Rochester. We visited Ightham about twenty-four years ago when we lived in the area and it has been restored beyond recognition. It’s a beautiful place as you can see from these photos.

On Sunday I went to collect Sarah and Rose from City Airport. Sarah was so keen to meet her new niece; Rose was fascinated with her new cousin but she was not too sure what to think of her. We booked into a country cottage in a small complex above the Thames Estuary with stunning views across the Thames estuary.

On Sunday I also discovered that we were sharing the cottage with the biggest spider I’ve ever seen here in the UK. I Googled it thinking I’d discovered some new monster species only to find that it is a common house spider. I’ve seen plenty of house spiders but I’ve seen nothing like this one before.

On Monday we got together as a family (sadly minus Duncan who couldn’t get time off work). It was wonderful for us to be with our kids, Josephine and two grandchildren for the very first time and we celebrated with lunch at a great little Italian Restaurant Don Vincenzo in Rochester High St which is within an easy walk of Paul and Josephine’s house. They are starting to settle into the house and it’s looking really good now that they have got nearly everything in place.

After a pleasant Monday we had a hectic Tuesday with baby Catherine and Rose’s first visits to The Natural History Museum. We had a wonderful day although I had not realised how difficult it is to negotiate London Underground with prams and pushchairs – planning was a major exercise in logistics and we had to walk a fair few miles to get to stations with lift access to the platforms. It made me appreciate how difficult a time the disabled have in getting around the capital.

Today we said goodbye to the Rochester branch of the family, took Sarah and Rose back to City Airport and packed again. Tomorrow we’ve a meeting with the interior designer in Woodbridge and the builder in Framlingham and yet another night at Premier Inn Ipswich. On Friday we’ve got a meeting with a kitchen company in Ipswich and then we originally planned to stop over in Llangollen to visit friends en route back to Scotland but the friends may not be able to make it so we’re staying near Telford and then deciding whether to head up to Llangollen on Saturday or back down to Rochester as we’ve promised Paul that we’ll help out with some workmen at his house for a few days. We won’t be back in Scotland for another ten days. It’s a very hectic life.