Today, we drove over Severn and Wye, through Ross, to the Southern end of the Golden Valley, for a Golden Wedding anniversary feast. The countryside, especially across into Wales, looked majestic, a perfect match for the lunch and indeed the day generally. The only sadness was the absence of two of the children - now (with their own families) based in Australia and Canada respectively, such is the way of the world.
As with the best of such occasions, it was an eclectic mix that our hosts had brought together, half friends (some who had attended the wedding), half their marvellous extended family. (It was a job to drag the youngest from the trampoline for a photograph.)
I first knew them when they had barely been married ten years, and so have watched the children grow into their own parenthood: indeed, some of the grandchildren are old enough to be parents themselves.
It being our wedding anniversary, Caroline picked roses for our breakfast table. With all the rain we've had, it's been such a year for them! The photograph shows just part of one of our two Rambling Rectors: on the other side of the house, there's Buff Beauty, New Dawn and Graham Thomas (supposed to be climbing, but refusing to do so). On the boundary, we have Madame Alfred Carrière, Souvenir de Claudius Denoyel, Lady Hillingdon, Zéphirine Drouhin, Félicité et Perpétue and (my favourite) an enormous Compassion, amongst others. Henry Robinson gave us one of his rare ramblers when we first moved in, which is all over our outbuilding (neither he nor I can remember which one). Oh, and the Albertine I thought had died is in flower again this year. Up the apple trees we have climbing Iceberg. By the arbour Sweet Juliet is going great guns as always. 
21st June 1975 was also a Saturday. Thank goodness it was sunny, and drier than today has been, as Caroline and I - having married in the church of St James, Coln St Dennis - walked after the ceremony, up along the bank of the River Coln, to Fossebridge Post Office for lunch.
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