Eddie and babushka

My Mum stayed with us for a month this summer and we had a lovely time together in Cornwall. Eddie loved having her around, a play mate and a comfort any time he needed it. They spent a lot of time together, and thanks to Mum, Eddie now loves being in the garden. He is forever looking out of the window, saying "peh, peh", which is a bird in Eddinese. But a dog is also a peh, bless him. He doesn't understand that babushka whom he calls Baba has left and won't be coming back until the next year. When I ask him "Where is a bird?" he turns to the windows, points to the garden and says "Peh, peh!" and also Baba, bless him, he must think she has been hiding in the garden all this time. She left two weeks ago, but he still thinks she is somewhere here. Eddie is missing his Baba. And so am I. And just like Eddie, I try to imagine that she is not far away, but is working in the garden. Years ago, when we lived in Woodstock, I played the same games in my mind. We used to have long walks in the Blenheim park with Sasha and my Mum, and when she had to go home and I took Sasha out to the park, I was very sad and tried to persuade myself, that Mum wasn't in Russia, but with us in the park, just a few steps behind, and if I turn my head back, she would be there, smiling at us...
This is my favourite photo of Mum and Eddie, taken in the little garden of the rented cottage in Perranuthnoe.

This is another reminder of our week in Cornwall.

And a photo of my two dearies by the sea.