Lunch with relations

Yesterday we were invited to lunch with Graham's aunt Clara and his cousins Anthony and Tania, and Tania's husband Rob and baby Amber. Clara had made a delicious vegetable lasagne and pavlova with strawberries and cream. It was sunny, and we ate on the front veranda.

Louka ate a few mouthfuls, then noticed the wide open spaces. First, down the steps and round and round the lawn. Then she found the letterbox and practiced opening and closing it. Beside the letterbox were a few more steps down to the footpath, so when she'd mastered the open-and-close routine she thought she'd try them out. Aha! now she could run down the nature strip, as far and as fast as she liked. So from then on, Graham and I took turns running after her while the other one ate.

The cream with the pavlova enticed Louka back for a while, then she found she could open the front door. And inside was a bowl of lollies, to which she helped herself (actually she only got three). There were also pens and things to draw on.

All the same, while it couldn't be called a relaxing visit, it was very enjoyable.