Hello all our friends. 
 
We do hope you all had a very happy Christmas.  We certainly did here at St Mary’s, as you can see from our photo, we joined in the festivities as best we could
 
We -  Trudi, Elia and I  - would like to thank everyone for all the presents.  Sr Jennifer says she won’t have to buy us any treats for months!!

We have been walking in the park as usual in the early mornings, not so many friends around at that time, I suppose some have gone away.  The after lunch walks are more friendly, lots of children like to stop and talk to us.  Trudi is in her buggy some of the way now.  I like to talk because they usually say ‘how handsome’ I am!! Well, I know everyone loves me.
 
Banjo, our gardener, caught me the other day for a bath ☹, I know it has to happen but honestly I could do without it – still, I looked quite clean for Christmas, and apparently I smelt better (cheek!).
 
We are hoping we might get away for a break during the spring, as it quite hard work being on duty all day every day, but sometimes we sneak off and have a sleep on the sofa.
 
Hope you all had a lovely time and we wish you a very Happy New Year!

Well that was rather a wash out of a summer – a few nice days here and there – but generally dull weather-wise.
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However, we have done our best to keep everyone cheery in the gloomy days, and we have enjoyed walks in Chiswick House grounds, BBQs in the garden, the summer Sale – and when it’s a sunny day we always help everyone with tea in the garden, after all, it’s not good for the squirrels to be eating the leftover cake, and we need to save them from themselves.

Now that our mini-lockdown has finished, we’ve been out for long walks again in Richmond Park, I think we’ve got a little out of shape during the past 18 months, as when we got home, all we could do was sleep….. 

Enjoy this nice weather - before the thunderstorms come back!!
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The human who types this for me is away next week, so I am sending out my Easter Greetings early.

I hope you all have a lovely Easter, and enjoy the break.  Looking forward to a spring and summer of easing of restrictions and hopefully allowing us to all socialise again come July.

​Trudi and I have been enjoying the slightly milder weather and have been relishing our outings to Richmond, and across the road in Chiswick House grounds.  There are lots of new smells and sounds to investigate, and we’ve been busy checking them all out.

I was slightly surprised by the heron – but we’re keeping a  close eye on him and I hope he stays away from the ducklings and chicks that should be making an appearance soon.

The magnolia tree on the corner of Corney Road is looking wonderful.  I hope you enjoy it when you come in to visit us.
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The garden is blooming too, which is very welcome, and once the weather warms up a bit, we’ll begin doing activities in the garden for the residents again.  We’ve all been shut up long enough.

Today we’ve been celebrating two anniversaries – the 50th Anniversary of Sr Cynthia’s profession (she celebrated by doing an extra KM on the bike!) and one of those 0 birthdays for our chef (and our great friend) Chris.  The nice thing about days like this is that there is lots of cake!
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Happy Easter everyone – and I hope your Easter egg hunts are successful.  This is a picture from our Easter egg hunt last year.

Hard to believe but it’s about a year now since the first Lockdown started.  During this time we’ve mostly been restricted in our outings to Richmond Park and Chiswick House grounds.  Last weekend it got a bit warmer, and I couldn’t resist a bit of paddle….  I thought I could give the ducks a bit of a lesson in doggy-paddle.

​And now it’s Lent, already.  Lent is a period of waiting and anticipation.  Certainly this Lent, we are not just anticipating Easter, but also a relaxing in restrictions, and as the vaccine rollout gathers apace, the hope of a return to normal come the summer.  Trudi and I are particularly looking forward to some time away from Chiswick – hopefully somewhere with big beaches where we can run about and paddle in the sea.  I think Sr Jennifer and Liz could do with a bit of a break too, I try my best to give them a bit of exercise each day, but really we all need a good holiday.

​Visitors will be coming back into the home next week, which will be nice.  It may be Lent – but you never know I may pick up a few treats from some of them – especially those who have dogs of their own -  and often find the odd doggy treat in their pockets.  Spring is certainly springing in the garden.  Here are some photos