Finally! I've just managed to put together a little slide show of the boys' pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It was very difficult to choose a few shots from the hundreds that had been taken and also try not to include shots of people. I don't think it's fair to put pictures of other people in the public domain without asking their permission first and especially as I don't even know most of the other pilgrims.
Anyway, I managed to choose a few shots from each day so hope you enjoy it.
Yes, they're back from their travels at last. The weary but very happy pilgrims flew in last night full of enthusiasm, eager to share their experiences . . . and their dirty washing - literally!
Ah well, such is life! Actually I really don't mind. It's lovely to have both the paterfamilias and number one son home safe and sound and so obviously having had a great time.
I'm looking forward to a 'debriefing' session over supper tonight and looking at all the photos eventually - just a few hundred, I'm told! I'll try and post some of them here soon.
I don't know whether it's the Chelsea Flower Show or what that prompted it but I had an email from my brother today saying, 'Nothingon your blog for ages about the garden. Something must be growing surely!'
And he's quite right of course. I must say the garden's not looking at its best at the moment. We seem to have had a lot of cool, wet weather recently and I can't say I've been tempted to go out there and do much about the weeds which are flourishing.
I decided I'd take a walk around our little patch with my camera and just snap at whatever I could find. It's amazing when you look at the results, how much there is growing after all.
Of course at this time of year, lots of plants are putting on a bit of a spurt and there are several things that look quite promising given a bit of sunshine (please!) in the next few weeks.
Plus of course, that's the beauty of photographs. You can edit out all the weedy, untidy bits and make out it's all glorious!
Fortunate too today that Signor Vivaldi was free and able to accompany my stroll with the camera. I know the music's a bit of a cliché but I hope you enjoy the slide show.
Thanks to Mary for posting this video. No offence intended - I'm sure there are many, many priests out there who can skip the light fandango with the best of them! Besides, that's not the point, is it? The message is in the punchline. It made me smile so hope you do too.
Fed up with all the stories of 'sleaze' in Westminster which has become our staple diet over the past week? Beginning to wonder what happened to old fashioned words like 'integrity'?
Do you remember the T Mobile ad filmed at Liverpool Street Station?
Fr Leo has just sent me a link to this similar video filmed at Antwerp Central Station. Sit back and enjoy the reminder of days of innocence epitomised by Julie Andrews:
As the Holy Father has been too busy to text me on his latest movements, I'll have to make do with updates from 'the boys' who seem to be having a great time and a wonderful pilgrimage.
They appear to be following in the Holy Father's footsteps - literally. They checked in at Notre Dame hotel in Jerusalem yesterday after Pope Benedict himself left the same hotel in the morning.
I didn't hear on the news whether His Holiness had also been in a cable car over Mount Masada like 'the boys'! (Thanks to Danny who's been uploading photos to Facebook religiously (pun, intended!) so that I can be with them 'virtually' if not in person, and for allowing me to pinch the odd shot until the 'boys' get home and I can see their photos).
The Holy Father ended his visit today and here is a clip from the Vatican YouTube site of his final address. Poor man, can you imagine, you're all packed and ready to board the plane and you still have to stop and chat to the press. You never have that problem on a Thompsons holiday!
Yes, I did get the words of the title of this post the correct way round!
The 'boys' are busy packing for their trip which begins tomorrow. I have been 'advising' the paterfamilias what to take and I use the word 'advisedly'.
Number one son is no problem. He just reads the guidelines offered by the pilgrimage organisers and makes his decisions accordingly - so simply really!
I'm sure they'll be fine as they'll manage with whatever's available and I'd rather not be held responsible for all the wrong advice anyway!
The paterfamilias has spent a large part of his working life travelling to foreign parts on business and can pack his own case for business trips in a matter of minutes, with only a few minutes' notice too (and probably could do it in the dark, if necessary!) Probably quite a useful skill knowing some of the places he travels to.
I know lots of bloggers will be posting about Pope Benedict's visit to the Middle East but I thought I'd add my three ha'p'orth as, by coincidence, the paterfamilias and number one son are also off to the Holy Land on Monday on a pilgrimage with others from Surrey and Sussex. I do hope they leave the red carpet out for them when they arrive! Hopefully too, all the Holy Places will be in tip top condition having received extra special treatment in preparation for the Holy Father's visit.
This picture shows Pope Benedict being met at the airport in Amman by Jordan's King Abdullah and Queen Rania.
The BBC's David Willey says, 'the Jordanian royal couple broke protocol to greet the Pope in person. Normally the monarchs do not go to the airport to welcome visitors. '
A Jordanian army band with bagpipes and drums played the Vatican and Jordanian national anthems before the Pope and King Abdullah inspected the honour guard. More details may be found on the BBC news page here.
We had a great Bank Holiday weekend, starting off with some good friends round for dinner on Saturday evening and then number two son coming down on Sunday to collect his laptop. He was only here for just 24 hours but it was lovely to be all together again even for that short time.
I was as excited as he was (or, maybe more so) about looking at the new super-duper laptop. How I managed to resist the temptation of setting it up before he was able to collect it, I don't know. It was a bit like knowing that there was an early Christmas present in a cupboard that I wasn't allowed to open until Christmas morning.
The paterfamilias spent a large part of Sunday attacking the grass in the back garden with a scarifier borrowed from a colleague to 'wage war' on the now defunct moss and weeds which make up our euphemistically named 'lawn'. He had already had a 'death to weeds' day a little while ago attacking them with chemicals (sorry, not very organic, I'm afraid).
I think he would have loved to have a 'toy' like this at his disposal - the Sioux Weed Eliminator - the name says it all, I think!
I just saw this great video on Auntie Joanna's blog and on The Hermeneutic of Continuity so thanks to them both for posting it. It's especially apt after my last post on Mary's month, I think. Enjoy!
Gardens at Chartwell on Bank Holiday Monday.
All ready for the Champions League final - glad I was a 'neutral' on the night! 
All ready for the Champions League final - glad I was a 'neutral' on the night! 
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Talk about ' boys' toys'.
