They drove up from London Heathrow on Easter Monday and were back in their house before midday. They came over to our suburban mansion in the afternoon.
Little Margot was delighted to see us - smiling like the cat who had got the cream. Not too long ago she would grab roughly at my face without grace or decorum but yesterday her touch was gentle. One finger on my nose or a soft little palm on my cheek. It was noticeably different.
Of course they were all rather jet-lagged, only just beginning to tune back in to British Summer Time.
Phoebe seems to have grown. She was already quite tall for her age.
She gathered all the children's books she could find and began making what she called a "bookpath". It snaked from the bay window in our front room, through the hallway and through the kitchen to our back door. She invited me to walk along it, taking care not to put my feet on the floor where there might have been stingrays and sharks.
I love that new word - not a footpath but a path made of books - a bookpath! I am sorry I did not take a photo of Phoebe's bookpath so instead you will have to make do with the AI image I created.
When authors get their books published, I doubt that many of them imagine that their proud creations might become mere paving stones for a bookpath.
How nice to have them all safely home. Soon sleepovers with grandma and grandpa will happen.
ReplyDeleteWell we have never had Margot here for a night-time sleepover but Phoebe thinks of our house as her second home.
DeleteA bookpath! It could be a lot worse.
ReplyDeleteA debtpath or a spurnedloverpath could be worse.
DeleteThis is nice, super glad your girls are back, but I actually came over here to look for the cottage pie recipe!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE the photo of the pottery man, All of that delicious texture and quiet colour! LOVE it! It looks painterly for sure. You could win Portrait Artist of the Year with that one!!
BTW, I could not find the recipe...
Scroll back to 13 April.
DeleteOr click on "Cottage" under the History label in the side bar.
DeleteAs my secretary said Linda Sue.
DeleteTHANK YOU!! Looking forward to a hearty meal!
DeleteYou disappoint me in your first paragraph where you do not interpret tyre and hire car into other dialects.
ReplyDeleteI strive to avoid disappointing you Uncle Keith.
DeleteA bookpath! What a charming concept! Love your AI illustration of it too.
ReplyDeleteI guess we all have metaphorical bookpaths - one book after another.
DeletePhoebe has a creative mind to give her path that name. It's interesting to see children's minds at work.
ReplyDeleteI think she was a still a bit spaced out after the flights.
DeleteGlad all your girls, and son in law, are back home safe and sound. Your daughter and son in law are brave souls, flying that far with two young children. I don't think I would have survived a trip like that when my kids were little.
ReplyDeleteThey took it all in their stride and the girls were very good.
DeleteI love Phoebe's book path! What a great idea! It's nice thta Margot is learning to be gentle with her old grandpa.
ReplyDeleteGrandpa may be a rough old guy but he likes gentle treatment.
DeleteA bookpath - how delightful! The AI generated image is like something out of a dream.
ReplyDeleteI suppose most of us who read have a sort of mental bookpath in our heads. Mine goes back to when I was about five and my sister taught me to read. I still have many of my childhood books and every now and then return to a firm favourite.
Anyway, great to know your family are back safe & sound from their Australian holiday, and that nothing worse than a punctured tyre happened to them.
Those of us who read have all got bookpaths.
DeleteSmall children have such imaginitive minds unsullied by the horrors of the real world. I'm glad they all got home safely.
ReplyDeletePhoebe and Margot are totally unaware of Gaza, Trump & Ukraine. I wish I could claim that.
DeleteLovely to have them all back safely. I wonder what prompted Phoebe to make her bookpath - something she'd seen in Australia? Your granddaughters are extremely well travelled for their ages! It's a pity Margot probably won't remember her first trip to Oz.
ReplyDeletePhoebe was still a bit spaced out after all the travelling.
DeleteA clever little idea for Phoebe to come up with!
ReplyDeleteIt could be a TV show.
DeleteThere was a time when they said books would become obsolete. It hasn't happened of course. Glad they are all back safe and sound.
ReplyDeleteIn deprived homes books were always obsolete.
DeleteA path of learning.
ReplyDelete"Follow the paperback road!"
DeleteA bookpath! What a wonderful creation. Our family who live in Italy (son, d-i-l, and my two youngest grandchildren) are visiting us next week and I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteMay sure you spoil them Liz. Is their first language Italian?
DeleteThere is a lot of metaphor in the book path, stingrays and sharks. when Phoebe is older you can ask her to write about it
ReplyDeleteI've just been to Perth, where I think I heard more British accents than Aussie ones.
Of course the real Perth is in Scotland. The one you went to see is the fake Perth.
DeleteAustralia is full of fake places
DeleteOh, Phoebe! Your granddad loves you so!
ReplyDeleteWe hugged each other without many words.
DeleteI am glad that they all made it home safely. That is quite a long journey!
ReplyDeleteYes. First a flight from Perth to Singapore - 5hrs 40mins, 3 hr layover in Singapore then 13hr 50min flight to London.
DeleteA magical path that will take Phoebe on all sorts of wondrous adventures. May her love of books and reading always be with her.
ReplyDeleteIn a way it is sad to see how screentime has invaded this space Diaday.
DeleteGood on Phoebe for her love of books; it will serve her well.
ReplyDeleteShe is surrounded by books and encouraged to read by all the adults in her life.
DeleteYou sure have a lot of children's books at your home!! Kids come up with such fun ideas! Glad they had a great adventure and are home safely.
ReplyDeleteWe could open a children's bookshop here.
DeleteLove the AI bookpath image - and also the idea itself. Like Meike, I also immediately associated it with the "mental" bookpath we keep in our heads. (Well, at least we who grew up with more books than TV.) Mine rarely gets laid out on the floor though, but stays in my bookshelves... ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely, imaginative idea. I wonder what was going through Phoebe's mind.
ReplyDeleteStingrays and sharks -- you can tell she's been to Australia!
ReplyDeleteMy great nephew is turning one this week, I sent a box of books. Children and books are a natural connection.
ReplyDeleteand then i was imagining in the opposite universe a library full of various kinds of paving slabs that you can borrow for a couple of weeks
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful image—Phoebe’s "bookpath" sounds like such a charming idea! It's so sweet how her imagination turned books into a literal path for an adventure. The way you describe her gentle change in touch shows such a lovely shift in her growth, and the idea of a bookpath as both a creative and playful gesture is so heartwarming. It’s funny to think of the authors' creations being used like that, but also kind of perfect—it’s as if the books, in their own way, are helping to guide the next generation’s journey. I can imagine how that must have been a wonderful moment!
ReplyDelete