Ablon visit, Carers Cafe, Allotment and Jubilee weekend

A busy week leading up to a hectic weekend ahead.   On Monday I attended the Carers Cafe at Haling Dene where I again met my old friend Miriam.  She used to live in Penkridge but is now in Rugeley but attends our Carers Cafe here in Penkridge as some of her family live here.  I can recommend it to anyone who is a Carer - one of the most responsible and stressful occupations anyone can do.  And many of us finish up caring for someone when we are retired - a partner, a mother or a father are the usual family members that people care for.   And the Cafe is a marvellous place to pop into once a month to have an hour or so with other people who have the same job as you - people you can talk to about your worries, your caring role and from the professionals from CASS get advice and help.  

Whilst I was at Haling Dene the Ablon party that has been staying with hosts over the weekend in Penkridge, gathered there to board the coach to the airport to return to their homes in Ablon sur Seine, the town near Paris on the banks of the River Seine.  Each year either Ablon people visit Penkridge (as this year) or we visit Ablon.   Penkridge families host Ablon families and they all looked as if they had had a good time this year.   Here is a quick photo I took of hosts and their Ablon families in front of Haling Dene just before they left.

Finally, my wife and I nipped up to our allotment to plant some courgettes, sow some beetroot seed and generally weed, dig and tidy up.   We actually were there for over 4 hours in the end and came back "knackered".  I now hope I will still be able to get around this weekend to the parties with my proclamation - I had problems simply walking in the village this morning.  I must get a rest this afternoon and forget the gardening for a while (except watering the tomatoes in the greenhouse and the hanging baskets).  Oh! and I have unearthed the Union Jack which is being washed as I write this.  I also have some bunting so all this has to be put up before the weekend.   It doesn't seem five minutes since the Golden Jubilee - or am I thinking of our Jubilee wedding anniversary we celebrated recently. :-))   

More Jubilee Parties and a Vulcan flypast

Looks like I won't be having the Jubilee Weekend off!   I have now been requested to give the Loyal Cry at another five parties - the Guides at Haling Dene;  Littlemarsh Park;  Nursery Drive;  the Monckton big do on the Monday;  and another village close by has requested my services.   I am told that the "Loyal Cry" is on its way to me so if your Road/Street/Avenue/Drive/Cul-de-Sac/area is organising a party (large or small) and would like the Town Crier to come along and give the Cry, then contact me quickly so I can include you in my programme.
On another note, did anyone else see the Vulcan Bomber fly south over Penkridge this lunch time on its way from Doncaster to Cosford to do a flypast and then it passed over again on its flight to do another flypast at the National Arboretum at Alrewas.   It was piloted by the man who took that plane to the Falklands and dropped the bomb on the aerodrome there. 
I saw the Vulcan as it did a flypast at Cosford and when I got back to Penkridge, my daughter told me they saw it on the west side of the village twice, going south and then back over on its way to Alrewas.