The Tonbridge to Penshurst 10k

This was no mean feat for a six year old with no gears on her bike, but she made the 10k return ride from Barden Lake to Penshurst Place with steely determination.  A lovely family day out in the glorious Kent countryisde, complete with picnic at half time and ice cream treats at the finish line.

Happy Birthday Mabulous!

It's been a bumpy ride over the years, what with one accident or another, but we are thrilled to report that Mab has made it to his fortieth birthday.  To help us celebrate, many of our lovely friends came to camp in our garden and share some fun times around a campfire.  An epic weekend to mark this impressive milestone.  Happy Birthday Mabs!

There were two in the bed

Cheeky Pippa has been sneaking her way onto Maisie's bed in the evenings.  The bean bag clearly wins over the folded-up duvet in the comfort stakes.  Maisie has been very gracious about this, but is begining to reclaim her territory from the little bedsnatcher.

Morning walkies

One of lifes great pleasures.  Just me and my dogs, taking in the fresh Kentish morning air, in sunny May with the footpaths and hedgerows full of froth.  I think this may be the honeymoon period with Pippa.  So far she has been very dependable on a walk, staying close to my heels, Maisie's heels or somewhere in between.  No doubt as her confidence rises I will need to employ the lead!

Our new arrival

Our hearts have been stolen away by this adorable little pup who arrived at Sunnyside yesterday.  She has settled in here beautifully and is proving to be a very playful and affectionate little scamp.  She has shredded as much cardboard as she can lay her paws on, she has stolen slippers, the camera bag, the lens cap, and all sorts of other chewing treasures, and we are wondering whether we should have named her Magpie intead of Pippa.  Maisie has done her best to ignore her, but Pippa perseveres in the hope that one day Maisie will play with her (my guess is that Maisie will give in within the week).  James is utterly smitten with Pippa.  "I think I must be dreaming, this is all too good to be true" he says.  He has spent ages sitting in her cage with her asleep on his lap, and as I went to look in on him tonight he was talking in his sleep (which is not unusual) but instead of the usual nonsense he spouts, this time his words were very clear "good girl, good girl".  Bless!

Bank holiday bike riding

With all of the work that has been going on at Sunnyside, we have spent every spare minute in the garden, working on the next stage that has been enabled by the latest development on the building front.  But today, we remembered that we have two lovely children who deserve a little of our attention from time to time, so we headed out in a landrover laden with bikes and a picnic, to our favourite cycling spot.  We cycled from the flood barrier to the recreation ground, taking in an ice cream and a ride on the miniature steam trains before cycling back again.  A lovely afternoon, with two happy but now very tired monkeys.