Birthday weekend

We went away for my birthday weekend. We went to Colchester to visit my eldest son and his lovely wife and my two beautiful grandchildren. It was a chance for me to meet the youngest who was born in August and to renew acquaintance with the oldest who is 18 months old.

Sometimes everything works to make a time like this very hard to get through and other times everything just falls into place. This weekend everything seemed to fall into place and we had the most marvellous time. Both children soon were adoring grandpa. and the oldest was crawling all over him and getting him to play with Duplo and read books.

We also managed a trip to Mersea Island while mummy and daddy took the boys to do some serious grocery shopping - important stuff like juice and bananas and crackers, oh and a play mat with roads for cars!

We had a chance to look at the fabulous beach huts on the island and to seek out a lucky pebble from the beach. We found some oyster shells and a flint or two but no lucky pebbles. I took loads of pictures of the beach huts but none really captured the feeling you get when you first see the line of huts meandering off into the distance. The weather was quite stunningly bright and sunny so we took advantage of it and sat outside the beach cafe - called The Two Sugars - and shamelessly eavesdropped on the group of motorcyclists at the other table. It was so odd to see these large leather clad gentlemen sitting there with mugs of tea and coffee talking about bike insurance. Not the sort of thing you expect to hear from what look at first glance to be "Bikers" One of them was sitting directly facing me so I didn't have the courage to take their picture, just incase he took umbrage.

I learnt that

The M25 is reallytoo unspeakably awful.

The A12 is terrifying

I need to actually read the interesting book on photography for the hints and tips to work.

Essex is really beautiful and I am glad my grandparents met and married there.

It can take at least ten minutes for a child to warm to Mr M.

It takes hours for a child to warm to me - I don't "do" small children. Teenagers on the other hand...

I love Mr M very much

I have a daughter-in-law who is shyer than me and that's why it has taken so long to get to know her.

A travelodge is very useful and a Little Chef breakfast sets you up for the day.