So as little Arthur sleeps and the rest of the family have gone to the Leisure Centre to swim, I am writing looking out onto the large green expanse of lawn at the back. My son from the US and his family have come to London and we all have met to enjoy some family time together. But once in a while when they go out to places I am not interested in going to, I can sit quietly and write, resting my eyes every once in a while, looking at the rain swept green lawn, stretching out at the back of the house.

Here in London, the black birds hop around checking the grass for insects and worms. At any given moment, there will be a pair of black birds, or the fat pigeons or even the Magpies. The rain splashes against the glass of the large floor length bay windows and I look up to see the black birds checking out the snail house built by the girls. Each of the girls have put down a crisp into the pile to ‘feed’ the snail, if you please. So naturally that attracts the birds who mess up their pile to get at the crisps.

The Magpies are destructive in that they dig out the wood chips put to prevent the weeds from growing. In between the wood chips they find insects and worms, so their thick and strong beaks swipe the wood chips out of their way and they get thrown all over the lawn.

If I dig in the garden the little fist sized robin, arrives to help itself to the worms which get turned over when I dig. He definitely has a nest in the decorative pines on the side of the garden. But I don’t hear any cheeping yet, so it probably has only just laid its eggs.

The scented pink roses which are opening out and flowering look drenched in the rain from my vantage point. All their heads hang low with water and there must be at least 25 blooms on that one plant. The UK is fragrant at this time of year, with roses blooming in most gardens. Infact, infront the hedge consists of a beautiful white rose which scents up the air around it. As we get in and out of the cars we take lungs full of the scented air which seems to envelop us all for free.

The apple tree flowers are spent and tiny apples start appearing. The Pear tree too has a rash of little pears which will take at least a month to grow to edible size. The apple tree at the back is inherited from the previous owners-- with the Espalier way of training trees. Training apples and pears as espaliers is a space-saving way of growing fruit on a wall or fence. They require little pruning once established. The tree gets a green Granny Apple tartish fruit, great in cooking.

But the neighbours apple tree hangs over the fence and gives the best apples of all! The area had once been a fruit orchard in the ‘30’s before the place was sold off as housing plots. That is why inspite of being just 20 minutes from London, the house has a massive front and back garden which is a great stress buster for my son.