Mina, Bomble and Emile

We invited some friends round for a barbecue this evening. I never know how to get the best from a barbecue; the amount of charcoal or the temperature of the ash. But Helena took charge and despite the time it took to cook, the meat was deliciously tender and tasty in the satay sauce she had prepared earlier. I never cooked barbecued food whilst I was a vegetarian for thirty years, and still find cooking meat an odd experience.

Angela brought her daughter Daniella and her two grandchildren, Mina and Emile. They rushed about playing in the garden, doing number puzzles, drawing and amusing Bomble. He was in heaven with these two playful young people to play his sort of games of chasing toys, leaping in the air to catch bouncing birds on strings. Every so often they would all need to calm down. Here was one of those soft moments and I can see the affection in Mina's smiling glance at Bomble, of moments shared with total strangers, children's encounters out of the blue. Bomble is so affectionate and loves being in groups of,people. He even tolerated Kitty's dog Stella, who seemed wary of him.

Now I'm thinking of Roland, who would play his own games with Bomble on these very stones. How quickly everything can change.