A right royal time

It's been a very Royal Month! A month or two ago a very thick cream envelope embossed with the Royal Crest dropped through our letter box inviting Angus and I to one of Her Majesty's Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace. This prompted much excitement in the Maughan household (well from Angus and I at least – the kids seemed surprisingly unimpressed, or were at least good at looking cool about it). After a flurry of new shoes and hat buying we made our way to London. We parked on the Mall and walked down past St Jame's Park with a sea of posh frocks and fancy hats. It was lovely! The Palace was stunning and the gardens beautiful. They weren't quite as I expected them to be – they were less formal and more like parkland in places – a definite island of tranquillity in the heart of London. And the weather – well it rained of course! A massive jostling of umbrellas and drips as we all tried to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty as she walked past. She looked amazing – in a stunning deep pink hat and coat – I hope I look that good at 90 (in fact I hope I even make it to 90!!). Now down to the nitty gritty – we had a choice of tea, iced coffee or apple juice and a selection of dainty sandwiches and cakes – all of which were absolutely delicious, particularly the chocolate mousse squares embossed with the Royal Crest, and the cucumber and mint sandwiches were to die for! Despite the rain we had a super time, only slightly marred by getting lost on the way out and the minor domestic in the car when we both had different opinions as to which way to go, having passed Harrods at least twice and in opposite directions.
Back at Overwater everywhere seems to have suddenly burst into leaf and flower. The new flower bed by Dewberry has just been planted out (all thanks to Moira and Peter who have far greener fingers than I do) and plans are under way for the gravel bed by the marina reception. Colin has been busy at work on the island, weed clearing and wild flower seed sowing. All was going well until the lads in workshop sneaked up on him by boat from the other side...