He is a fine Lad!

Tense morning today with a vet appointment in the diary.  The cat basket is well hidden, but they immediately sense something is going on when the kitchen door is closed while they eat their breakfast.  Once the food is finished, they set about trying to catch my attention with cute head tipping in the direction of the closed door.  When that doesn't work, trying to trip me up tactics are employed, so I sit down!

We have an hour to wait until the appointment and the rest of the time is spent in 'wet play' mode, which means chasing each other up and down the stairs like a couple of kittens!  That is better than scratching the carpet or desperately mewing, I now have to decide which one to take as I can only carry one basket from the car to the vet.  

I decide upon Oliver who is usually the most difficult and distract him with a couple of 'Dreamies' treats before swiftly transporting him into the basket and closing the door before he could think. A loud hiss let me know I was not popular, but no time to hang about.   I got him strapped into the front seat and covered the top of the basket with a towel, hoping that not being able to see the scenery flash past would make him feel better than usual.

Lots of kind words as we set off, smooth driving and listening to me babble on about my views on what Boris Johnson was talking about, managed to calm him down and he did not fret as much as usual.

The waiting room in the vet is always a place for a giggle as the Great Dane dog called 'Fetch' catches the eye of a fluffy little cat, who in turn has his eyes fixed on the pretty coloured fish.  Oliver didn't have time to enjoy much of the wildlife as we were called in immediately.  The animals seem to relax as soon as the vet touches them, they must sense the caring touch.  A thorough check over and a shot of the annual booster jab, the ordeal was over and he was passed as a very fine young Lad.

I think he actually enjoyed the car journey home, comfortable in his pile of blankets. Maybe it was the engaging tone of Vanessa Feltz chatting on the radio that made him look utterly relaxed and no howls at all, he was in no hurry to get out.

Fred was happy to see his brother home and off they went for a morning of adventure, unaware it will be his turn next week.

Plant of the Week

This has to be the plant of the week, no, more like plant of the season.

Gaura lindheimeri is a genius of a plant, a native of Texas and Mexico.  It is fragile, pretty and light, flows in the breeze and just keeps on flowering with no need to deadhead.

Growing well over 3-4 feet tall and about 3 feet wide in sunny and well drained soil, this stunning plant starts to flower prolifically in late June and keeps on providing delightful pinky-white clusters of flowers on tall thin stems.

Here it is enjoying sharing space with verbena bonariensis, another tall and flowing plant which also looks better when allowed to free-flow.

If you give it space and don't allow larger plants to crowd this little beauty, it will give you months of garden colour and it is also very easy to take cuttings.  Just pull out a stem, very close to the root ball, and soak in water for 24 hours before potting up and keeping moist until it has formed a good root system.

The King of the Road

Photo:  John Giles PA

Last week the roads of South West London closed to welcome the Olympic cycling time trials and the King of the Road delighted the public at Hampton Court Palace.

Starting and ending at Hampton Court Palace, this is a race against the clock over a distance of 44km for the men and 29km for the women. The competitors set off at 90 second intervals, with a police motorbike leading and support car following, to race their way through Esher, Hersham, Cobham and Kingston upon Thames, with the men taking in additional loops through Molesey and Twickenham.

Lizzie Armitstead had to cope with a camera crew, almost riding on her bike

Bradley Wiggins was in no doubt about who we wanted to win

Crowds packed the route, sometimes three or four deep with their Union flags and raucous cheers. The ladies were off first in the morning, unfortunately it was rather dull and damp but the sun eventually warmed us up by the time the men set off.  

Parties were on the go all day along the route, filling the suburban village greens, the BBQs were sizzling and families picnicked on every available green space. Every nationality was given equal cheers and encouragement, but the Team GB must have been deafened by the enthusiasm.

The crowds on Hampton Court Bridge were ecstatic as word went around that Chris Froome was home in a possible medal time.  This then turned to an amazing roar as we heard the news that Bradley Wiggins had secured GOLD!

Many of the cyclists took a lap of honour over the bridge and back to enjoy the happiness of the crowd, the police took great applause and yet more high fiving.  Then we all gathered to try and catch a glimpse of the medal ceremony, Gold for Bradley and Bronze for Chris Froome.  As gold was placed around his neck in the front drive of this beautiful palace, cheers echoed across Surrey and along the River Thames.  As the National Anthem played the packed streets of Hampton Court joined in, making this a very moving and an unforgettable moment.

People turned out in a wide variety of colourful outfits to give all the cyclists the warmest of welcomes.  

And the BBC found a lovely place to base their broadcast, on the veranda of and exceptionally quaint antique shop.

As the day's activities drew to a close and the TV crews wrapped up their coverage of this day of carnival and happiness, the locals of this charming London village made sure their High Street was going to stay closed to allow the party to continue into the night.  

Bridge Road, a unique road full of independent cafes, bars, creative shops and antique stalls, was full of happy smiling people enjoying the sunshine and sharing the historical moment of happiness.

The Olympics is not just about sport, it is about human kindness and understanding.  Sport is the catalyst to bring the world together, to understand each others and broaden our minds.

Party time for Surrey roads

The Surrey roads closed and a party atmosphere spread across communities last weekend.

With many main roads fenced off for the Olympic Road Cycling, we just had to walk or cycle and it was great!  We awoke to silence, no distant traffic noise. A very relaxed atmosphere fell over the area with people sauntering down the middle of normally busy main roads, it felt more like a holiday village than a busy suburban town.

There was no need to rush as we couldn't go anywhere! I think perhaps every town should be allowed to close selected roads once a year, it would promote calm and goodwill to the neighbourhood.

The reason for the road closure was all very exciting and excitable crowds formed all the way along the route.  I think we must have seen more police motorbikes than the cyclists!  The police were in playful mood, high fiving the crowd, stopping for photos and joining in with the Mexican waves, whilst making sure we were all happy and safe.

The only trouble with this type of event, it is all over so quickly, they just swish past, but we did manage to get a photo of Bradley Higgins and Mark Cavendish early in the day.

Later in the afternoon, we turned out again to see them pass at the 220 km stage, I think the most important cheering is for the stragglers who have fallen behind the pack.  They need extra encouragement to keep them going.

Unfortunately, Sunday brought utterly dreadful weather for our Olympic Party but we all dressed up in waterproofs and braved the thunderstorm to cheer the ladies as they battled through the hail stones.  By the time we had walked home, we were delighted to catch sight of beautiful Lizzie Armitstead powering up the Mall to win her silver medal.  She looked so cool and calm after her 140 km cycle ride, I would have been tomato red, flustered and ready to explode!

Photo:  PA

This was my creative culinary contribution to the excitement of the Olympic spirit!  LOCOG please don't get angry with my less than perfect copy of the rings.  By the way, it is an elderflower and lime cheesecake on a ginger biscuit base and is utterly DELICIOUS!