As we walked back along Mill Road I spotted a familiar shape in the distance

Last week our two armchairs were professionally cleaned. 8 years of muddy paws and sticky fingers of grandchildren and our own hard use had taken their toll on the fabric. Now that they are clean I have covered them in cotton throws and the cats are very comfortable with the new arrangements!

I was privileged to be part of the village Remembrance Service in the County Park this morning. I sang a memorial prayer in Hebrew and read the prayer in English.

During the silent contemplation I thought, as always, of my grandpa Sam who survived the hell of the Battle of the Somme.

I’ve no doubt that grandpa was damaged by his wartime experiences. He told my brother about the rats that ran over the soldiers as they slept in the muddy trenches. Not for those soldiers the label PTSD or any counselling. They came home and tried to put their experiences away in a largely unopened box.

Grandpa had one failed marriage with a daughter he never saw and who died young, then a second unhappy marriage with grandma Katy. Sam at least came home from the Great War. Katy’s first love sent her embroidered postcards from “somewhere in France” but never returned. That Great War blighted so many lives and all for what?

It is 8 years today since I began blogging from The Gables. It was a steep learning curve and I’m still learning.

The second anniversary is that today would have been dad’s 94th birthday. He passed away aged 86 but lived a full and happy life right up to his very last day. He was a wonderful son, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He adored children as you can see from the photographs.

We had our two armchairs professionally cleaned yesterday and I can’t let the cats into the house until the chairs are dry. Then I will cover the chairs with “throws” to try to keep wet paws from making the chairs muddy again. Sorry Nigel and Mabel