It Takes A Village

After all the bird photos I took yesterday I only took this one blip photo today.  The day was busy with other things and I'll give you the short version.  Of the 18 houses in my little street there are only 3 with families of young children.  One family has an escaping two year old.  This week he managed to get to the next street before he was found.  His mother was beside herself but some of the neighbours were judging and there was talk of contacting authorities.  This worried another of the neighbours and she came and talked to us.  Between us we thought the thing to do is talk to the mother rather than talk about her.  So neighbour and I gathered up our courage and did just that.  She was pleased to see us and we sat and talked while her three children played around us.  She isn't a 'bad' mother.  She is a mother of three children under five.  She did feel the judgement of the people around her on the day and was pleased to see our friendly faces.  For our part we were reassured she has support networks and she isn't isolated.  
Later in the afternoon we did bit of tidying in the garden and took up the offer of a swim in another neighbours in ground swimming pool.  
The blip is our first Christmas card that arrived today.