Our summer holidays are begun. Bliss. Things slowing down, everyone getting enough sleep. H, A, Granny M and I made the revolution on the London Eye the other day, as the girls chose it as a birthday present. It was my third time, and no different, no freaky swaying winds, no terrorist alerts, just half an hour creeping round a circle looking at the view. Well, for £15 you want a lot of view. Although bizarre behaviour exhibited by one of our fellow captives/passengers - she was applying make up, spending most of her time looking in a mirror. I can understand people doing that on a train or maybe a bus if they have a steady hand - but if you are paying for the ride, at a cost of £1 per two minutes, I take the view that every second counts, and peering down at people who are 'titchy like ants' is what you are there for. I used to 'air dry' my hair on my way to work in Worksop by having all the windows open, so I know what it is like to perform your toilet in public. For a few weeks, R had to drop me off in Worksop as he was working in Clowne, so then he used to drive and I put on mascara. Don't do it very often, I probably have the same tube, and these happy Worksop days we speak of were in 95-96.

What can I say about Worksop? Nothing positive, so will say nothing. Actually, there was a good pub, a Wilkinsons and Mr Straws house, a NT treasure, but not worth going there for. Poor old Worksop. They must have a hardworking team in Tourist Information. Run off their feet, no doubt.

Yesterday we went to Polesden Lacey, a NT house near brother and sister in laws house. We got there early, and did a 'short walk', and then Angie, with pushchair and friend with double buggy, said we could carry on up to the grounds but the pushchairs wouldn't make it (stiles etc) and they would meet up with us in the grounds. Ha! Never ever go on one of Angie Gibbs' 'short' walks, especially not if she has declined, and even more especially not with 2 year olds. She could work for Worksop tourist board and have people pouring in!

Forgot to tell you that on Saturday we had a wonderful afternoon at the home of one of R's mum's cousins, who coincidentally lives in Claygate and whose daughters went to Brownies with me. They live in one of the very smartest roads in Claygate, with a fantastically huge back garden ( think Aunty Penny and then some!). The occasion was a garden party to get all the descendants of R's great grandad William Chalmers together in one place. They managed somewhere between 50-70 souls, including partners, and 4 generations represented. We had family trees to pass around and name tags to identify us. Fabulous food and very lovely people, met some faces for the names Mary speaks about, and some she doesn't, and all were pleasant. Including the one I remember from Brownies, she was Sixer of the Leprachauns when I joined up, as a novice Kelpie. There were more boys than girls, a few little girls but a whole stack of boys between 4 and 7, all of whom had stripped down to nothing before we got there. As I peered through the gate on our way in I was alarmed to see that from that angle, the dress code was 'bare all'! Not something I expected from the Chalmers. Anyhow, H gamely got her tankini out of the car and joined in the water games with the boys, while A kept her knickers on and played with the other little girls on the bike and in the shrubbery! Ouch!