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May was a peak month for Bridget's Thames Path Walk. Early in the month she was joined by friend and cycling companion Lucy (from a nearby village) for the stage from Ham House to Shepperton, another ten miles under the belt (or foot).
Meanwhile Lucy's family (Andrew and sons Jamie and Matt) joined Malcolm and the boys for a day out at Ham House, where there were llamas on site. For a fee the boys had the chance to lead a llama all the way round the extensive Ham House grounds. Seeing the steps by the house I was a bit surprised to see the llamas just walk straight down them. Of course, they are mountain dwellers.

Within the following week Bridget was walking again, this time meeting up with Liz, a friend from university and her family. This was a short walk so both families did the whole stage together. It was the first part of the walk that Malcolm, James and Matthew had joined in, but not the last. It was a day of mixed weather, with one heavy shower sending us rapidly to the shelter of a large tree. And then soon afterwards we were shedding coats and jumpers in the warm sun. That's May for you.
There is an canal festival held annually near to us, organised by a group aiming to rebuild and open the Wendover arm of the Grand Union Canal. Heavy rain the previous day made the site somewhat muddy, but we had an enjoyable day - especially in the beer tent. Both boys had the opportunity of holding an owl, and James also got to hold a very small piglet - the first time he's done so.
At the end of May Bridget did another stage of the Thames walk, whilst Malcolm and boys spent the day around Runnymede. After a boat trip along the Thames we left the rather small National Trust picnic area and found a much larger picnic and recreation area - the Runnymede Pleasure Ground. It was a very pleasant spot to stop, and the boys even got to drive go-kart bikes. We met up with Bridget (and friend Tanya) for lunch and picked her up from Windsor afterwards.