September...

This one's more of a ramble than a post.  It's been the most wonderful, glorious summer, hasn't it... Weather to camp and go to the beach in, warm enough to spend long evenings outside under the stars...(Drinking wine obviously)

It's hanging on in there, too, though the blackberry-laden hedgerows and misty mornings signal that autumn's not long away.
I've just walked our dogs on the Downs, which we're lucky enough to have on our doorstep.  It's a steep, chalky path in dappled shade to the top, where today, tractors are ploughing and hundreds of swallows are gathering to leave us for warmer places.

Talking of which, my daughter's a bit ahead of them - but only just.  She's spending the next three months as a volunteer for a Greek charity looking after ponies.  This was her day yesterday.:
3am get up, get mother up, emotional drive to Heathrow (v emotional).  Find Terminal 5 - easy, spacious, very early, where excited but mostly VERY happy-tearful emotional farewells follow.
Georgie then flies to Athens, takes a bus to Kymi, then a ferry across to Skyros, hoping someone will be there to meet her the other end.  Meanwhile I drove home, feeling a wrench that was physically painful and went to bed.  I won't lie, I cried too, but it doesn't mean I'm not thrilled for her.  The pain went and I think it's fantastic she's there, because it's what life's about and if you can't do things like this when you're 19, when can you?