Pud Lady and the Forest

We are enjoying having Dad around since the end of the narrow boat holiday. Yesterday we were off down to Pud Lady's in Hastings, for Dad to take her to a charity garden party she wants to attend. Dad knows that one of his character "failings" (if you like) is the inability to stay anywhere he's visiting for longer than it takes to have been seen to be there and to have ticked all the boxes. If he needs to attend a function he arrives, does all the necessary meet and greet, eats the food, drinks any proffered refreshments and then sits around not quite drumming his fingers on the table waiting for an excuse to leave. Been there, done that, bored now!

So he's amused when Pud Lady (who, you'll probably already know is actually his aged Mum (84)) does exactly that. He brings her to the Garden Party, she sits down and dutifully eats the cakes and the proffered coffee, buys a plant and a book at the sales table, stuffs a wad of money in the collection box, chats very briefly to those at the table and then, turning down an offer by Dad to walk her round the garden (she's using a wheelie-Zimmer but is fairly nippy with it) she's off back up the side passage to the road home. Dad is briefly left in the back garden looking around at people and saying, rather feebly... "That was my Mum, we're going now... byeee". He jokes with Pud Lady out in the front while he gets the car, that he can see exactly where he gets it from - it's definitely hardwired into the DNA.

Today's entertainment is a walk in the Challock Forest, where we've not been since bluebell time. Quite a lot has changed, especially in the are of the woodland sculpture from Stour Valley Arts being taken away - the 'Cloud Chamber' (= log igloo) has gone, as have the last remnants of the 'Giant Baskets', the 'Dinosaur Ribcage' and the Nightjar Picnic Table.

It's all go
Deefs