English Country Garden ....

... Good afternoon.  We've been back in England since Sunday and it seems we've brought hot summer weather with us.  We picked up our hire car at Heathrow, had to get an upgrade as the one they tried to give us was way too small.  We had a super run up to Leicester and spent Sunday and Monday with my in-laws.

It was lovely to see them both. My in-laws have the most wonderful garden and this year they said the roses have been magnificent.  I spent several hours sitting in the garden on Monday afternoon enjoying the soft fragrance of the flowers, the sound of bees as they flew around visiting the flowers and the wonderful bird song.  I took lots of photos - I only wish that they captured the smell too!  Here are a few photos - enjoy!!

On Tuesday we headed for North Wales and for home!  It was a super drive and we got in early.  The hotel wasn't quite ready for us, so we headed straight to the village.  It always feels so strange to stand outside our house and not be able to go in.  However, we did manage to catch up with lots of our friends.  Tuesday was the hottest June day on record in the UK, we got to 29°C and again on Wednesday.  The hottest July temperature recorded in the UK was at Heathrow where it got o 36.7°C on Wednesday.  However, the down side of all the hot weather is the humidity.  And there were some spectacular storms last night.  Today is rather grey, but much more pleasantly warm.

We've been to visit Hawarden High School - where Kathryn will go when we come back to the UK.  It was so nice to see all her friends come up and hug her.  They had a lovely afternoon in the park catching up on news.

I'd completely forgotten that Wimbledon would be on when we came over to the UK.  It's been fab to be able to watch some tennis and see Andy Murray play.

Kathryn and I got back onto UK time reasonably quickly, but we both still have coughs - so fed up of them now.  We've only got one more day in Wales and then it down to Hampshire to spend some time with my Mum.  Really looking forward to seeing her and also to seeing our son, Ben.  That's all for now.  Take care.