In a quiet corner of the garden

Peter, who is Mum's great nephew, drove from Yorkshire to see us today. He brought gifts from Bettys in Ilkley from his brother and wife who live in Austria and honey and a beeswax candle which he had brought from Vienna. (Yes, I did get that the correct way around!)

Peter works in adult psychiatry in Barnsley and he did his medical training in Prague. We had a lot to talk about. I wanted to hear about his job and how cut backs are affecting his patients. I also wanted the inside information about Prague, from someone who lived there for 6 years, before I go next month.

Poor Mum had a migraine so had to miss out on the first two hours of chat. (Note to Kendall - she had stopped her anticoagulant recently, so needs to go back on it.)

I made mushroom and butterbean soup. It was delicious and very hearty.

We heard about the family this afternoon.

After Peter had left, Margaret (across the road) brought Thomas to see us. He enjoyed playing with the track again. He also had proper walkie talkies, so he and I had a conversation using them. (I don't think he quite understands that you should be out of normal earshot to use them!)

I had a quick walk around the garden this afternoon. The snowdrops and celandine are out. The winter jasmine is usually very poor, but is flowering well and looks beautiful.

I'm tired and ready for an early night.