Two

 

Our grandson, Zachary will be two years old next Friday. On Saturday morning, we took him to the urban farm at Hounslow. It is very close to Heathrow Airport and all the time we were there we had to experience aeroplanes rising into the sky - so low that you could easily make out the names of the carriers - from "United" to "Lufthansa". You can imagine the noise they made.

Personally, I loved Hounslow Farm because of its higgledy-piggledy amateurishness. It has clearly been there a good number of years, relying upon the goodwill of volunteers to proceed. The animals Zach saw included sheep, goats, llamas, pigs, horses, donkeys, rabbits, chickens, turkeys and ducks. In the guinea pig shed I saw a rat which was not supposed to be there. Maybe he had been invited over for lunch by the guinea pigs.

At ten thirty in the polytunnel,  two teenage girls introduced us to some small animals, including stick insects, hissing cockroaches, a diadem snake from Sudan and a soft-shelled tortoise from southern Russia. One teenage girl advised me to hold it like a hamburger. And here I am showing it to Zach...

The photos don't really reveal what a happy little chap Zach is. He loved meeting up with his grandma again but took time to warm up to his silly old grandpa. I don't blame him. This morning, we took him to Battersea Park, south of the river. It is exceedingly popular with local Londoners. They run there, ride bicycles, feed ducks, amble along, play sports like tennis or visit the popular cafes. There were hordes of them.

And here's Zach looking at you from the crotch of a tree. He can see exactly what you are doing so stop it right now!

On the way down to London by train, a famous woman sat opposite us, texting and phoning and berating a guy called Simon who was her underling assistant. It was Sharon Graham, the powerful leader of Great Britain's Unite trade union. It has over 1.2 million members. I have often seen her on television. Strangely, she did not ask for my autograph...