I will get back to posting regularly and posting about losing weight and being healthy by eating meals such as this one.  I have not eaten many such healthy meals recently though, unfortunately.

Pretty flowers from my garden!  I will be writing more about my garden soon too, when I have more time to get out in it.  I think my life will be less crazy in about 2 weeks and I can refocus on my health and growing veggies and getting in to a regular exercise habit. Today’s blog is about yesterday when we went up to Durham.  The trains to Durham go from King’s Cross which is a spectacular structure.My train went from platform zero – unusual!
We were going up to Durham for Lara’s graduation ceremony which was taking place inside Durham Cathedral.

While we parents mingled and enjoyed some bubbles, the bright young things went to collect their robes for the ceremony.

Well done to our beautiful daughter for getting an excellent degree from one of the best universities in the country.

I really enjoyed the day, helping all these clever young people celebrate the end of not just 3 years of hard work but many years of hard work through school and university and meeting Lara’s friends who I have seen on Facebook but not met before. I didn’t know we couldn’t take photos inside the Cathedral until I had taken one.  Oops.  The ceremony was very well managed and we had screens to help us see the ceremony. Then that was it.She has graduated.

The graduate. This was such a relaxed and throughly enjoyable day. We queued up for the official photo.I enjoyed meeting Lara’s friends too. The weather was lovely so we strolled around and admired these ancient buildings. Very ancient. Time to hand the robe back. These are almshouses which are beside the Cathedral. I felt extremely proud of my daughter who has worked very hard for her degree and deserved to do well.

I also felt slightly emotional because as a parent, you put so much of your own time in to helping them get through their education, from nursery school, through primary, High School and then University.  All those events you attend; sports days, plays, recitals, concerts, parents evenings, matches, speech days etc.  Then suddenly, that’s it.  All over.  One child, well educated and now independent and off in to the world.  She has made it easy for me and I am excited about the next phase of her life.  As is she. Time for tea.  We walked through Durham’s charming town centre to a hotel for afternoon tea. Over the bridge to the Marriot. Instead of a lunch Lara chose to have an afternoon tea.  I love those too and this was a very good one.  4 types of sandwiches, 3 types of scones and 4 desserts!!!  A good opportunity to relax together too, the three of us with afternoon tea and Wimbledon on the telly in the background. We dropped Lara back at her house on our way to the station.  I think the bright young things had big plans for the evening which did not involve the parents. So we left them to it and headed home. Congratulations to our beautiful and intelligent daughter.

One down, just the boy to go now!