Day Off

Yesterday was sublime--I feel just totally lucky and humbled to have had such a day. Francisco dropped the kids off and then we took our bikes on the Overground to Richmond and then biked over to Richmond park, where we enjoyed the views, visited a garden packed with azaleas and rhododendron, and had tea before heading back. 

The view from King Henry VIII's mound is ridiculously charming. You can see St. Paul's through a telescope ten miles away. It's framed by a charming gate and greenery. 

Photo not mine but Maxwell Hamilton's: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mualphachi/5762209701/in/set-72157627257264096

The blooms were mostly over, but it was still lovely. The bushes were just enormous. 

 

And where the petals have fallen was ridiculously gorgeous, too. 

Two kinds of Wisteria side-by-side

Francisco's favorite--a scone with jam and clotted cream. My favorite, Victoria sponge. 

The view while we had our tea:

While Francisco and I had tea, Mom called, and I got to hear about the newest member of our family. (Later in the day Ilana called and I got to listen to very fresh baby cries.) This has got to be the happiest thing in the world. I'm filled with joy. 

When we got home, Francisco made us campari and soda while we sat in the garden. 

Q got to go to a forest school for the afternoon. They had all outdoor activities, including printing with the pigment of flowers--I'm jealous!

In the evening, I headed to the theater to see A Long Day's Journey into the Night. Boy. A long play. This was the first play in London that I closed my eyes during and thought I might prefer to be asleep (3 hours and 15 minutes of unredemptive pain and unhappiness). A mother with mental illness was just too close to home. Finding out how totally autobiographical it was just made it sadder. 

BUT the actors were great. The treatment of addiction was moving. I don't know what else to say about it--it will stick with me.