Family Fun

On arrival back in the UK, Clare found herself embroiled in the Heathrow Airport chaos due to the passport technology failing. Her next flight to Manchester was subsequently cancelled, but thankfully she negotiated the queues and angry mobs and escaped, exhausted and having lost her voice, but otherwise relatively unscathed to a Hotel, where I met her later that afternoon. A brief rest and a stroll around the grounds of the country park, was just enough to get us in a fit state to attend the main event of the weekend - Aunty Gill's 80th Birthday Party!

It was a glorious summers day, with  Andrew and Sarah hosting a wonderful party. Food, drink and lot's of catching up with everyone's news! A special day with some very special people.

To keep us active, there were also plenty of sociable games - what better way to have a conversation than over a game of tennis, croquet or connect four, with a cold drink to hand!

After the sun had set and some of the clan had begun to disperse, more food, drink and chat led late into the night, with some of us who were staying over, retiring to the late night cellar snooker scene, where a fun team 'cousins' match took us into the early hours...

A short family hike was the order of the day on the Bank Holiday, to walk off yesterdays fine foods and see a bit of the Liddington area.

Things got curtailed just below the target destination of Liddington Hill, on the famous 'Ridgeway' hike, due to us not carrying a machete big enough to get through the 'in bloom' stinging nettles!

At one point things got seriously overgrown!

And later, we almost lost sight of the birthday girl among the foliage!

Some of the team were finding it great fun though!

Happily we made it back to the house, all accounted for and in time for another huge lunch in the dining room!

After saying our farewells we've headed north into Worcestershire, for a quiet night or two, to re-group, re-pack and get organised for the excitement of the next few weeks, which currently has travel plans involving several different groups, modes of transport, activities, countries, languages, and for Clare, multiple continents!