Four generations

The photograph above was taken on the occasion of my father´s 90th and my youngest grandson´s first birthdays. The party was an ideal and rare opportunity to take a family picture of all of us together. I´m seated next to my father, there are my four children and partners and my eight grandchildren. A lovely sight, but then I´m prejudiced!

I thought it would be fun to take a small copy of the photo with me, maybe if I get chatting with local grandmas they might like to see it.

I´ve actually got as far as sewing my pilgrim forum badge on my rucksack, and a small Brazilian flag. I would have liked to sew on a British flag as well but couldn´t get hold of one, understandably. And... I´ve finally and for the first time put everything I´m taking in the ruck sack to see how it fits. I literally packed everything, including the clothes I would be wearing, just out of curiosity. Well, it does all fit in, but I´ve decided not to take the wind jacket as my poncho will do just as good a job. I´ve also removed one of the three nappies as I managed to dry myself and my hair after a shower with just two, and I´ve also removed the gloves. A pairs of socks will keep your hands just as warm, so I´ve heard. All this is in aid of reducing weight, as I think that is what is going to get me in the end. When I tried on the fully loaded ruck sack it felt very different to when I am just carrying the rice even though the weight was the same. I hope it won´t take me too long to get used to it.

This spurt of activity is due to the fact that my friends are having a farewell lunch for me this weekend and I thought it would be fun to take all my stuff along to show them. It will be interesting to hear their comments.