Thursday, June 05, 2008

To Cambridge...

...with Mother, to visit some young relatives. Something of an adventure to get there: I had stupidly chosen to go via Liverpool St instead of Kings Cross. An unexploded bomb from WWII (I'm not inventing this!) brought delays to the Circle Line...we were late getting to the station, and later still arriving in Cantab. as the train was the slooooooooowest ever known, and went round via every village in Hertfordshire and Cambridegshire...however, it was bliss to arrive, and to sit in the lovely summery garden while E. and F. gave us a delicious meal and chilled wine and we caught up on family news, and it was even more delightful when the children woke from their afternoon rest and came down to play...enchanting toddler H. going merrily round the lawn on his little tricycle with Great-Auntie Joanna , and baby F. gurgling contentedly on the lap of great-grandmother. We loved every moment of our visit.

Travelled back to London and thence to the suburbs - people on trains are v. kind when you are with an elderly person, and young people not only leap up to give Mother a seat but give assistance in other ways: it's a real lift to the heart to see this. Often, you get nice conversations, too - M., who doesn't get up to London much these days, hugely enjoys a chat and it was all rather fun.

Had left my bike at Mother's (cycled there last night following a Catholic Writers' Guild meeting - speaker was A.N. Wilson, most enjoyable). So collected bike and cycled home in the cool evening...

AAAAARGH!! When I arrived home, mild chaos. Infestation of ants in the hall and all round Jamie's desk!! Nightmare. Emitting noises of mild panic, rushed out to Tescos and bought anti-ant stuff, spent an hour spraying and cleaning and coping. Meanwhile, had remembered that I left my mobile phone in Cambridge. Phoned to sort this out: by an extraordinary piece of Providence, I am speaking tomorrow at a school only a few miles away and can get into Cambridge to collect it...having deal with this and other issues, I pottered into the kitchen (it was by now v. late) to tackle things there, and the phone rang again. It was Ave Maria Radio from the USA (see below), ready for a live interview about the Church and adoption societies and the Govt's nasty new laws...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

We don't get many ants up here. So I can watch a colony for hours and hours as the workers go about their tasks.

Anonymous said...

So what's a busy day like Joanna?lol

Archbishop Cranmer said...

Ants have their uses...

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!

It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,

yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.


Or, alternatively, just exterminate them.

joannaB73 said...

It must be the season for it - my hall was infested with ants when I came home lunch time. The first lot of stuff I put down,the ants thought it was dinner and when I went back to look they had multiplied! So down to the garden shed for some stronger stuff and that seemed to do the trick! Be back again tomorrow no doubt!

Anonymous said...

what do you have against ants- after all you are an Aunt.

Anonymous said...

An infestation of ants must have been a welcome change from from a swarm of bees in the bonnet.

Anne said...

I always thought you were a cross between Mary Whitehouse and Mary Poppins. Would you say that was correct. You do have an element of both.