Malmesbury...

....to say goodbye to our friend pollyanna who has gone to cambodia to set up a new school. Malmesbury is a very pretty little village in wiltshire, the oldest borough in england. we bought the lovely spidery plant for our balcony at a fairtrade fair, scoured the many charity and bric-a-brac shops and visited the beautiful and ancient Abbey dating from about 1180, vast and yet only a third of its original size. it holds the tomb of king Athelstene - supposedly the first king of all england!

we somehow got caught up in a wedding blessing ceremony taking place in the abbey and as we were trying to make a swift exit the bride was entering - we almost collided with her - so we had to try to make ourselves inconspicuous along the walls of the abbey until she had reached the front.

we bought delicious organic chicken and veg in the little farmers market and came home also with bags full of apples (picked by sam on a very wobbly ladder) and rhubarb from polly's parent's garden. and had a great time with lovely polly.