Good evening,
I had a day off yesterday which was a treat for a number of reasons.
Not only was it a chance to spend time with family & take a break from clock watching & deadlines, but also the weather cut us some slack & provided a lovely summer's day. Some of it we spent by the river watching the world go by, fantasising about a longboat holiday (a less relaxing experience than it looks, I'm guessing) &, of course, feeding the ducks. In fact we could have stayed a lot longer but for a chance remark by a fellow duck feeder who mentioned that the noises we were hearing behind us were rats.
She said they were really quite tame & that if my children remained still & quiet the rats would emerge from the undergrowth & run between their feet to hoover up any stray morsels of bread on the riverbank. Needless to say that was the end of it for us. Whilst attempting to appear relaxed & nonchalant we beat a hasty retreat, heading off in search of an ice cream. Her eccentric outfit (quilted orange body warmer, brogues & a sun hat saying 'I LOVE GRAN CANARIA') only struck me afterwards as perhaps indicating she was a less than reliable source of local wildlife info.
In fact it looks as though it may just about be ice cream weather for the next few days here in the London region. Elsewhere across the UK it's very unsettled but down in the South East we're doing reasonably well, with any rain most likely to fall overnight. Long may it last.
Hope to see you later,
Robin
