Bring him home

Before leaving Waterloo I wanted to go and see Dad – as many of you know, we scattered Dad's ashes at a monument in the Waterloo battlefield near the Butte du Lion. We've always found it amazing that in the visitor centre they sell little bottles of soil from the battlefield, and this morning Alan was pondering on something. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he'd had an idea – to buy one of these little pots and to dig up some of the soil where we'd scattered his ashes, and put it in the pot.

It might seem a strange thing to do, but I thought it was a lovely idea and was quite touched that he'd thought of it. So I went and bought two pots and Alan took his Swiss Army knife with us. Surprisingly, there were still some of his ashes there, so Alan used his knife to remove a small amount, mixed it in with the soil in the pots and sealed them back up. We then sat them on top of the monument with the Butte du Lion in the distance to take this photo.

It's really nice to think that we've brought a little bit of Dad home with us, and Mum if you're reading this, one of the pots is for you x

As we'd got everything done earlier than expected we contacted Eurotunnel and brought the time of the train forward. Unfortunately the air conditioning in our train wasn't working, so it was extremely hot, but at least it's only a 35 minute crossing, and once back in the England the drive home was surprisingly easy, with no hold ups!

We stopped off at the beach near the house so Louis could stretch his legs, and then when we arrived at the house he got very excited. He obviously remembered it from our visit to pick up the keys and he's been round all the rooms and the garden having a good sniff. However, as I'm writing this, he's just spotted Monty the cat in the garden and ran straight into the patio door trying to get to him - he's now stood growling through the window, so that should be fun when they meet face to face!

Anyway, we're just about to have an Indian takeaway, so I'll catch up with you later – have a nice evening.