Pooh Sticks and Saving Panda!
I love being with my family and recently it was a joy for Ruth and me to meet up with our son, John, his wife Catherine and their children, Ava (aged 3 and a bit) and Finn, who is just 10 weeks old. We met at Mottisfont, a wonderful National Trust place just south of Stockbridge. As we showed our National Trust passes at the entrance, we had no idea of the drama that was soon to emerge. Walking along it was lovely to witness Ava grasping her little toy Panda that Ruth's mum had given her. Ava adores this little toy which has added significance given that Ruth was also given a similar toy panda when she was a baby. A little way in we encountered a small bridge over a river running at quite a pace beneath us. This was a perfect opportunity for each of us to participate in that great game entitled 'Pooh Sticks'! Basically, this meant each of us finding a small twig which we then simultaneously dropped into the river on one side of the bridge before racing over to the ot...