Within Reach

An excellent afternoon spent in Thomasina’s garden in Reach, about an hour’s cycle from Cambridge. She and Charlie did a delicious BBQ using an array of homegrown vegetables, which was accompanied by a good amount of booze, some lounging around the table and finally some sprawling on the grass in the early evening sun. Before cycling back there was a tramp around the paths of Reach to see their allotment and it was all very Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five.

The light was lovely on the cycle back. We all decided fenland landscapes lack drama and diversity but they are marvellous on sunny days when the light is just right.

Friends Esther and Sacha were there too, with their new son born during lockdown. Due to our various stints overseas I’ve barely seen them since they left for the Falkland Islands in 2015, so it’s timely that they travelled to the UK in order to give birth, although they’re also now somewhat in limbo. Lots of tales of vicious Falklands winds, getting up close and personal with elephant seals, and a diet primarily of mutton.