The Golden Horde

A beautiful day we had of it.  Golden sunshine and no wind, breakfast outside in the warmth.  Some frantic tidying and then at 10.30 the Mums and the Babies descended.  We had about 20 people here so we sat outside and I kept the tea and the cake flowing.  People were very generous and unasked brought eggs, cake, fruit, more cake.  The children ran small riot and got every toy in the house was out and apart on the living room floor. There were cake and half-cups of juice everywhere.  Odd bits of cake were found balanced.  

Everyone left except for a small group who stayed for lunch.  We ate outside under the ash tree then made dens in the back garden and a huge Bedouin tent (with a bedspread and the washing line) which we filled with blankets and cushions and bears and children and stories.    I watched the light on the bedspread roof, dappled through the tree, simple beauty.

When the garden was empty I sat for a moment in the sunshine and watched a buzzard over the valley, huge gentle circles over the hill and a weird mewing.  We saw the peregrine again over the woods.  It was a delightful day, warm and sunny and full of play and happy children and cake.