Have had a very agreeable time away in Surrey, staying with Ma and Pa Gibbs. We had a couple of days with our lovely nephew, A, who is 3 soon and so funny and adorable in a way only a 2 year old can be. We took him and the girls to Wisley, which is a garden run by the RHS and quite famous, and busy, and beautiful especially in Spring with the camelias, and other blossom everywhere. Ma and Pa took the girls to Claremont, another local garden, run by NT. The whole of Surrey is basically one National Trust property after another with a few villages in between, which, long term followers will note, only the gentry (who can not keep up the NT properties) can afford to live in. My dream house is up for sale - its an old cottage on Telegraph lane, right on the edge of Claygate with views of horses and fields, and two bedrooms. It costs £330 000. So, no move on the horizon. I did lots of running, its a runner's dream location, with instant access to fields, woods etc and relatively flat. Today I took Mike ( H's godfather) out for an 8am run, he had not run for a few years so I was playing the leader and he was catching up. Made a change. We did find the only hill for miles around to run up, and over, and back again as I had missed a turning. Poor Mike. Yesterday R and I went for a run with H on her bike, we did quite a long one and I felt great. H biking and me running is a winning combination. The day before that I did a run on my own across the common and was pleased with that too. Also did some swimming - 2 sessions, at the Esporta in Kingston, which we like as it is clean and quiet and we have paid for it already. We also tried out Esporta in Guildford, even cleaner and quieter, and water a bit cold. A (nephew) was not impressed, he is not a fan of swimming, but he and I played on Cbeebies website in the cafe while R and the girls carried on their swim. Took Mike's dog for a walk in the rain today, so all in all a very active few days for the Bowens. No shocks so far eh? I did a quick perusal of the charity shop in Claygate but did not do my usual pilgrimage to Surbiton to buy up all the bargains. I did drop my dad off at Surbiton station for one of his trips to London. He goes so rarely, it literally takes royalty to drop dead to get him on a train to Waterloo, this time it was a scouting friend of his whose funeral he was attending. Now, so far, so dull. But wait! The funeral was conducted at Lambeth Palace, by the Archbishop of Canterbury! Not many people get their funerals done by him, do they? He usually sends a lackey. Today we went to the church in Claygate, which is huge in terms of the size of the building, and the number of people who are members. It was full for the all age Good Friday session, at which we sang 5 songs and went round the building and did things to remember the crucifixion - a bit like we have done previously when our housegroup did Easter for our church, if you were there. It was all very well done and I think the girls appreciated the experience as an addition to their usual diet of godly play in a small group.

Back home to the mammoth shed; and the smell of cat poo in the play room.