Breakfast time

It's been such a long day! I took the dogs out along the river at 6am, just as the sun was rising as a scarlet ball. It was fairly deserted, apart from a crowd of keen rowers. As I was returning to the car I stood on a bridge and watched a heron standing at the edge of the backwater. I could see that it was focussed on something and gradually it edged forward. All of a sudden it lunged and caught this big fat perch for its breakfast - all gone in a few gulps.

After doing a batch of washing, a spot of gardening and a bit of tidying Pete and I headed to Heathrow, stopping for a very pleasant couple of hours walk around Northaw Great Wood in Hertfordshire. The traffic on the M25 was surprisingly light for a Bank Holiday and we successfully negotiated Terminal 5 to find that the plane from Shanghai had landed. We only had to wait a short while for Chris and Lizzy and then it was back on the road again!

We're all safely gathered in now. Chris has brought back many tales of Chinese life, almost 1000 photographs, a large pile of dirty washing and a rather interesting asssortment of Chinese green tea, sweets and alcoholic beverages, the nicest of which tastes somewhat like celeriac! He's crashed out on the sofa having been awake for 23 hours, and I'm just about to crash out in bed! I'll catch up in the morning!

Best viewed large unless you're squeamish!