1. There is a companionable silence around the cafe table; and then Serena says: "Well this is a first, breastfeeding in the street." The five of us look at each other and laugh. It hadn't even occurred to me when I put Alec on that we were outside and I hadn't thought about the street setting, either. "We're all right," says someone else. "Anyone would think we were just cuddling our babies."
2. I never really got over the disappointment of discovering that the Rhododendron 'Blue Peter' I'd persuaded my father to buy had purple flowers. So how exciting to find a properly blue azalea in a work-a-day park like Calverley Rec. "It's that blue that's impossible to photograph," says my aunt. It's the sort of blue that makes your eyes feel strange -- a bit like looking at a UV light when you're drunk. It's like the sky today, and like chalkhill blue butterflies.
3. We rushed home with a furious Alec arching his back in the pram. I thought he wanted a good long feed, away from the heat and the bright distractions of the outside world, in our cool, quiet living room. But it seems that all he really wanted was for me to pick him up and press his tear-wet cheek against mine. Although I fed him as well.
