A walk to Black Pond

My sister came with Xena and I for a last walk this morning to Black Pond where we saw the territorial male swan who was hissing at all the dogs walking by. The female swan was with him and off the nest so I am not sure what that means, as I have not seen her for a while when she was staying close to their nest. I hope it does not mean that their eggs have been taken.

When we got back home I helped my sister pack - she is taking back presents for the family that I have bought, and she has bought, so her suitcase was so full. She never travels anywhere so is not an experienced packer, and had brought so much unnecessary stuff with her - far too many pairs of shoes, coat hangers (!) and things she never wore. Anyway I managed to get it all in and hopefully it will be within the weight restrictions. Btw Gavin managed to deposit her old pound notes into his bank account at his bank, and then transferred the money to her bank account. 

Then we went into the village for a light salad lunch at my favourite café, and she stayed enjoying a coffee while I dashed off to the osteopath for another session. As it is such a long term problem it is now at the stage where it is improving only slowly. I think I may be sore tomorrow from that session. 

We got back home again in good time for the taxi that came to take her to the airport. It was very sad saying goodbye to her, and she has had a lovely trip as we did spoil her. She never goes out much at home so she really enjoyed all the outings and meals out. I will see her again in August when we all go to SA for our summer holiday.

Tommy had tickets to two balls, and they were back to back which was tiring! It must have been fabulous to attend a ball last night, on midsummer night, and I saw videos of them all swimming in the River Cam, their posh outfits abandoned as they cooled off in the water. I think in any university town which has a river running through it, it is tradition for the students to go swimming in it. 

Tommy got his university exam results today (he is lucky as other departments are not marking now due to the strikes) As a final year engineering student his final year project is a significant part of the result - he got a first class pass for his project, but missed a first class pass for the exams by 3 marks out of 480 - how annoying is that?! Hopefully that bodes well for his PhD applications which he will now be able to do having his final marks, as they tend to consider the project more than the exams. Due to Covid he did not write exams during the first two years of his degree so his track record was incomplete, and he wanted to rather apply on his actual final mark which would be a stronger application - this means he has to take a year out as he applies this autumn for autumn '24 - quite frustrating really.

I am now about to get the train to London to join Gavin for his company summer drinks party.