That has to be the hottest weekend of the year....

   ....Paul and Ben came to stay, and we took full advantage of a beautiful weekend.
  Breakfast in the garden-both days, visits to the park-both days- without the dog, who, with a full winter coat, found it simply tooooo hot.
  Plenty of time sat in the shade watching the world go by.
 And-wait for it Selina- Ben ate 6 ice creams in one day.  We went to Jimmy Spices last night and there was a serve your self ice-cream bar....so he did!!! 
    Saturday we went to Tamworth and had a wander round the park and market, and today we went to Canon Hill park- to a bit of a food fair, which had to be inside, for the sake of the bread, and the cakes, and the various deli stands, and for us.  There was a court yard with tables and chairs and music and we sat round eating strawberrys and cream with macaroons and more ice-cream.

    ....Enjoying the Saturday sunshine in the fields by the river in Tamworth....Girls ...what a handsome grown-up and thoughtful young man you have got for your cousin.  Ben was 10 last week and has grown SO MUCH since we saw him last!!!!

Yippee...summer at last....

.....the sun finally came out and so we headed into the garden for the last couple of days, cutting, planting and weeding....

....just look at the spikes on this thing, no wonder it makes my skin so sore if it brushes against me....A good job the bees love it so much, otherwise it would be in the bin.

       Grown from seed by my own fair hands, and doing exceptionally well this year.

    Wild Garlic from under my apple tree, in all these years I've never brought it into the house before, and this little bunch is still as fresh today as it was when I picked it over a week ago.  I will remember that for next year, I rarely bring much in from the garden as it just never lasts as long as it would outside.   Darsh can never understand it -I still buy flowers when I have a garden full at home that I can pick for free...yes, FREE...Darsh's favourite four letter word...

A bit of a pink post today.....

There is a  rhododendron walk in Weston Park tomorrow.  Not surprisingly it does not hold a very big  attraction to us this year.

The flowers in some of the Chinese parks were so beautiful.  Our seasons of spring and summer were all mixed into one, so many of the flowers we don't see here until July, are in full bloom with the spring flowers over in China.  The results were really stunning.

This picture of  Darsh's back-and the flowers of course-was the result of me grabbing my camera to snap one of the many unbelievable sights on the streets of Shanghai.  I simply couldn't believe my eyes and my camera is always so slow to take-Darsh got in the way.

        Petunias, Begonais and Bizzie Lizzie are planted up everywhere, goodness knows how long they last, as the temperature was more 30 degrees, whilst we were there, and is due to get a lot hotter yet, we noticed that lots of the men were still wearing long-johns under their trousers, and the ladies were still in their thick winter tights!

             No idea what this is, neither the flower, nor the little bug.

And as for these....

The temple was cheating-they're plastic.....

Nothing much happening today....

     ....apart from a long session of shredding old papers as we try, yet again, to get the family room sorted out.  Took an early break for lunch and went to the "Umbrella Man" who was limping about and having general staffing problems.  He looked tired and worn out, but quietly told Darsh that he has sold the business and is going to India for a long holiday.  Now we need to find somewhere else that makes chapattis as good as his.

One day a couple of weeks ago Charlotte took us to the park to see the cherry blossoms, it was after a particularly windy night and the only blossoms were on the floor, but we amused ourselves wandering round spotting the comically translated signs that were everywhere...

     We had a giggle at this one, it makes it sound as though that patch of grass is viscous (is that spelt right?)

     On the way into the park there were all the usual refreshment stalls and one was selling Darsh's favourite-sugar cane juice.  Of course he had to have some, but being China, it was not going to be straightforward.   
    The man and wife were so excited to have foreign customers, they insisted we all sat down behind the stall in a circle for a "chat".  He proudly selected his best sugar cane ever and squashed it in the machine....
 

    Look at him, you can see he was grinning from ear to ear.   His wife wanted to know all about us...mama/papa/daughter?....were we on holiday?....were was I from?...where was Darsh from?.   They were so delighted to understand that Charlotte was living and working in Shanghai.   Very shyly they could manage the odd few English words and were incredibly proud that we could understand them.

       After about half an hour we carried on into the park with them waving and calling after us.  Darsh told them he would call back, and see them later.

     On the way out at the end of our day, Darsh did go back for another drink and was pleased that he did, they were both eagerly waiting for him, keen to see their new friend and to squeeze him another glass of juice at the end of their day.  They taught him how to say "sugar-cane juice" in Chinese and he came back to us chanting it under his breathe as he tried to remember it.

Time to garden again.....

           So far today it hasn't rained, so I made the most of pottering in my greenhouse...planting seeds and potting on bedding plants...
  Joe came up with another doggy theory....doomed for failure.....if he creeps into the greenhouse and gives a loud yap....

     .....I'll eventually weaken and give him....

      .....the balls of birdseed he loves so much, you know, the extra ones I had to buy, because he sneaked in and ate the last lot I left within reach...NO...I don't think so, but he was banned from the greenhouse for making me jump when he yapped.   He went to the back door and sat sulkily watching me for the next half hour.   Then he realised it was dinner time, so he was back with a vengance....

.....dancing round my feet and jumping up and down...

I trod on him several times before I gave in and fed him,  there was no chance of doing anything once he's decided it's his feed time.

Now he has disappeared, no doubt sleeping off his early supper on the bed [with Darsh] and it's got a bit too nippy to go back out today...

Had to go to the library today.....

      .....cos I left my map of Shanghai at Charlotte's, so when I was sorting out my photos last night I could remember the place names, but spell them?....oh no....so off to the library it was.  I also wanted some books on what life must have been like in China in the last century.

      Well I've got some place names now, so I can sort of sort myself out a bit....
This was the view from Charlotte's bedroom window, and every morning we had a commentary from Darsh on the state of the traffic-our very own "eye in the sky"

    ....we even took a walk over one evening to get a proper look at all that traffic...

     .....and that brave little policeman trying to control it and doing very well too, considering there was about 10 lanes of it heading his way....

Nanjing Lu

I was more interested in the evening streets, bursting with people always, but far prettier at night...

      ....Bikes and scooters where everywhere, and if the road was busy they simply drove on the pavement.  The scooters were battery operated too and you couldn't hear them coming...and at night they saved their batteries, so they didn't put their lights on and then you couldn't see them either.  Crossing the road was a nightmare in the day or night.  Charlotte just ploughed in and said "Don't stop, and never make eye-contact"!!!

          .....Charlotte was in charge of the map, or the I-Pad, or the "Lonely Planet".  She was our official tour guide.

     On our first trip to the Bund, to see the old 1920 and 30's buildings on one side of the Huangpu River, and the ultra modern skyline over on the Pudong side.  This visit was murky and I wanted to see the view on a clear day too.

When Charlotte was at work, Darsh was in charge of the map.....

....Boy did we get lost a lot on those days...

Xintiandi, near to Charlotte's work and the wonderful "Shikumen" museum.  We visited here several times, but we got lost the first time even though it was so close to "home"

The whole area had been allowed to fall derelict a few years ago, but instead of demolishing it, they salvaged and restored it as part of Shanghai's heritage.  It was a lovely place to wander round, and eat in....

I simply give in.....

     ..... trying to get my video onto the blog, on either dad's dinosaur, or my borrowed laptop, which I'm not too sure I want to keep after all!   Reminded dad where we were this time last week, and he hadn't a clue, Charlotte we could have saved our money and took him to McDonalds....

      This time last week we went to ....

.....for a Champagne Brunch..... a treat for Selina's birthday...

          .....Charlotte had been dying to take us there and couldn't stop grinning all afternoon....

 Champagne and caviar....and eat as much as you like....though there was some pretty strange combinations....

      Pete....with sushi, smoked salmon and crispy bacon....all on one plate...eaten with chopsticks-of course

 It was unlimited Champagne all afternoon, none of the cheap stuff and they weren't mean with it, also there was a huge cocktail stand to either make your own, or made up for you...

    The choice of food was vast and unlimited, and guess what-there was even more upstairs...

The place was nearly full, on both floors and in the glass topped dance floor where they were having to seat people under sun-shades as it was simply too hot.

There was a floor show, dancers, acrobats and a pianist...

And even an orchestra and wonderful classical singers to entertain us while we ate.

The whole afternoon was very laid-back and relaxing and there were loads of children running around and playing.  No-one was the slightest bit bothered when one young diner had an impromptu session on the piano, complete with bag of popcorn...I can't see that been allowed to happen in many 5 star British hotels.  

It was so hot afterwards I simply sat by the fountain waiting for our taxis and enjoying the Chinese buildings.

     Some-all- members of the family went back to the flat to sleep off unlimited Champagne.....me... I went and got my nails painted, sheer luxury, it took an hour and a half, was the best job ever-still going strong over a week later, and cost me £3.  The little Chinese girl was so worried about telling me the price, she apologised over and over again and was embarrassed to take my money!!!!
      Again I bet that wouldn't happen in England.