Day 8. Sunday 3^rd June, 2007.

After breakfast we motored to Hythe and were pleased to see that Mum was feeling much better though her left leg still had a most unpleasant looking lump on it. Mum was quite dismissive of this saying that it was nothing compared what her leg had been like! Elaine arrived with Sam and birthday boy Henry not longer after and the next hour or so was an orgy of present opening, a lot of which seemed to be from Uncle Peter! Then a children biased lunch, followed by a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake. Then some playing on the back lawn with the boys in the bright sunshine. Rosemary left a message for Jane who called back about 30 minutes later and we drove to Marchwood. Met Remus for the first time, admired the nearly completed conservatory which is larger than I had expected – quite spacious, in fact – and caught up with Jack before he left to return to school at the end of his half term.

We had a cup of tea and a chat and then returned to Hythe. Rosemary very sleepy so she had a snooze while I hooked the laptop up to Mum’s TV and showed her our photos so far, and some from earlier in the year.

Then a super chicken meal that John had prepared and ‘sampling’ of some Oz Shiraz and a blind taste test of Nikka single malt whisky versus a Scottish single malt. They were very similar in smell and taste but the one I slightly preferred turned out to be the Nikka, and vice versa for John. Late to bed…