Yes, it really is 4 August, and this is a gratuitous picture of Honfleur. Note the absence of licorice ice cream.

Following our return from Ditchingham we had a day at home before travelling down to Caddington to look after the grandchildren for three days: the journey down on Monday evening was a record – about 1 hr 50 min, largely because of the absence of any problems, unlike the journey back.

David was away working up north, and Vicky was leaving home at 6am and returning at 5pm; so we had charge of Oliver and Amy from when they woke (earliest 7.15am, latest 8.30am) until Vicky’s return. The first two days were warm and dry. The children didn’t really want to leave the house until the afternoon in each case. The first day we went to Stockwood Park; the second Ashridge Forest, where Oliver did some mature riding on his bike up a road used by cars all the time, and we all went further into the forest than we meant to, so that O and A got a little muddy. Visitor’s centre there was surprisingly good, but the toilets were surprisingly bad – pretty disgusting, in fact. Still, fun was to be had with ponds and logs. On the Thursday it rained, and the fair didn’t open till 6pm (!), so we paid a late visit to Woodside Farm. Because of the small number of people there, the children were able to take advantage, and Oliver spent some time in the bouncy castle on his own. So much fun that we were home a good half-hour later than Mummy, who was cooking us our third lovely meal in a row. Children were lovely, and made it easy for us.

We left for home about 9.15, anticipating an easy ride, but the Newmarket bypass was closed, and we got in a long queue of traffic diverted through the town (Dot driving). As the Highways Agency couldn’t organise their way out of a paper bag, there was no provision made to allow all the extra traffic to drive throught the town easily, but we eventually crawled through and made it back home by about 11.45pm.

Yesterday Dot and I both had a blood test and caught up on paperwork. Very warm, as it is today. Decided to have a meal at Cafe Rouge, which was superb as always. Discovered that Andrew was ill, possibly the result of anxiety at being under the impression he was about to be moved. Spoke to Julia, his social worker, a couple of times. First she hoped to get him into a place in Coventry, but this turned out to be not possible. Then there’s one at Leamington, and she wanted me to take Andrew to see it. However I rang the hospital, who said Andrew was too ill to come home this weekend as planned. I rang again today to check, but he’s still bad. I hope to go on Monday – his birthday – and maybe take him out for a meal. Dot is at present in town having a meal with the gang of four from Alburgh.