Peace

Ellie was very excited when I went to join her for the walk to school. Her class had a school trip planned today. They were visiting Goodwood Farm. Off she went, rucksack on her back and clutching a bag with her wellies.

We headed to Chichester. Diane wanted to look for a jacket and a new dressing gown, and there was an exhibition at the Cathedral that we wanted to see. We hit the shops. M&S, SeaSalt, Crew Clothing, Oliver Bonas, TK Maxx, Mountain, Black's, Cotswold, and several others. Diane could find nothing that quite matched her requirements.

As an interlude between shops, we went to the Cathedral. There is an exhibit on display by the artist Peter Walker. The display contains 15,000 paper doves of peace. Each dove contains a message of peace, love and hope, written by local community groups, schools and members of the public.

It really was an extraordinary sight. We wandered back and forth beneath the cascade as it filled the nave of the Cathedral. Apparently, they changed the lighting occasionally, but it remained violet the whole time we were there. I suspect that it is even more of a spectacle as it gets dark outside, and the impact of the coloured spotlights becomes more marked.

We had a quiet hour or so back home before going to collect Ellie from her dancing lesson (this had nothing to do with the farm visit - just a normal after-school activity for Friday). She bounced out of the gym and then as we walked home, her face turned to thunder. We got the silent treatment for about half an hour. Eventually, she explained to Nana that she didn't know who was collecting her from dancing. I pointed out that the last thing that Mummy had said when we dropped her at school this morning, was that Nana and Grandpa would collect her. "Oh, I forgot", she said, and all was right with the world.