Had a lovely day on Sunday, I went with boys to St Catherine’s Hill near Winchester to do some blackberry picking, only to find all but the highest ones had been stripped bare, though we did get the few that were left over. One thing was really noticeable though. Last year we got to the higher blackberries by George getting on my shoulders for extra height, this year no chance, he would have broken my neck, and even Harry was a struggle. That’s an indication of not just how quickly children grow, but how your own physical strength deteriorates past the age of 40. It will be a lot easier next year, as I will be able to get on George’s shoulders………… if he can lift me out of my wheelchair! You can actually buy a tub of about 20 blackberries for £3.00 in Sainsburys which is a real snip I think.
Anyway the flirtation with an Indian Summer has continued and it was just nice to be out and about really. No doubt it will be all over the newspapers that the weather has gone mad as it hasn’t rained for five days, Thames Water are on the verge of issuing a hosepipe ban because we have had the driest 15th-22nd of September since last September, the summer monsoons were the wrong kind of rain to fill up reservoirs, and as a consequence prices would have to go up 10% above inflation or we would all die of AIDS related Bird Flu.