"The old house is still standing...

...though the paint is cracked and dry"

It does indeed look decidedly decrepit, as must be the current occupant (now aged 95) to whom we sold it 30 years ago. We did not see her today but we were allowed to look around the garden where our two sons took their first steps,  played on the climbing frame and dangled on the monkey swing that hung from a massive plane tree.

To my great surprise and delight, the garden has been allowed, whether by neglect or design, to re-wild. Suckers and saplings have popped up all over what was the back lawn and vegetable patch, creating a delightfully bosky ambiance and nurturing a breath-taking carpet of primroses.

The fig tree I planted is still flourishes  as does the bay bush, seen to the left of our group photo (extra). My mother, who bought this house in 1970 and spent a year modernising and decorating it to her satisfaction,  would be dismayed by the state of it now (ivy up to the roof!) She lived in it for only a few months before she died. She would however be ecstatic to see how the family has expanded from the one, myself, who survived her.

When we moved we had to leave behind the Matisse tile we bought in the south of France, for fear of breaking it, but it survives intact on the wall outside the back door.