Last weekend in Kimwarer Valley

On Thursday evening amidst the fourth evening downpour last week, Grant collected me from home and took me to view the river running through the mine. The water levels had risen and more rain was on the way. Very welcome and very seasonal weather here in Kenya at this time of the year.

A week ago this river had all but dried up. Today it's filled with life-giving water for the region

On Friday morning I joined Sue at the house next door. This has been vacant for quite a while and we were cleaning and decorating it for the mining manager who arrives this week. We had three ladies, Susan, Sheila and Faith from the village to help us with the cleaning and the first thing we did was to remove all the furniture and place it outdoors.  Then the curtains were removed and Faith washed them all in the bath. We don't have electric washing machines on camp as the water pressure is non-existent and the electricity grid cannot handle electrical appliances which draw excess power. My own Naomi who was cleaning my home, came to help Faith and we also had to use my washing lines to hang the many lengths of curtaining out to dry.

Stanley sprays the windows clean with a strong jet of water from the garden hose

The louvred window were also very dirty so Stanley (my gardener) attached a hosepipe to the kitchen tap and sprayed the panes and insect gauze with a strong jet of water.

Next Susan wiped the windows with a cloth and polished them with a dry duster.

Meanwhile Sheila cleaned out the kitchen utensils and cupboards

Sue and I didn't just stand by and take photos. Sue assisted Susan with washing the windows, I wiped the floors and walls after Stanley had been and later both of us helped Sheila to dry the crockery and utensils and repack the cupboards. Sue and I also took down most of the curtains and I helped Naomi to hang them out to dry once Faith had washed them.

The house, like ours and all the others on camp, is quite large by anyone's standards. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large diningroom and sunken lounge, a large kitchen and I photographed Stanley in one of the two storerooms.

By 1pm CAT, (Central African Time)  the ladies were taken to the club for lunch and Stanley and Naomi returned to my house to eat their meal. It was 11am in London and Sue and I repaired to our respective lounges to watch the Royal Wedding!

"You look beautiful."

What God has joined together, let no man put asunder

When I was in London in 2005, I visited two other churches, but didn't get to see Westminster Abbey

This weekend, however, I had the chance to see it along with billions of other viewers! 

 God save our gracious Queen...

Global enjoyment for all at this romantic moment

But one of the best scenes of this very special day, in my opinion, was Prince Charles holding the little bridesmaid up to see the crowds below the balcony. I have a soft spot for the Prince of Wales as he is a gentle soul, loves good music, is an organic gardener and found love in his golden years

From the time Kate arrived at the Abbey, Naomi watched the proceedings on television with me. She knew there was a Royal Wedding on; she knew the name of Prince William but she had no idea whom he was marrying. I told her the bride's name is Kate and she said: "Oh." We continued to watch the wedding together.

Halfway through the service, she looked at me and said: "Where are Diana's children?"

On Sunday Grant and I took Bertus to see the flamingoes of Lake Bogoria. Regular readers may recall that we visited this lake at the beginning of April and I loved every minute of our tour that day. Yesterday was as enjoyable as the first day and I managed a few beautiful shots of a very different bird to one I normally post. More about this later on in the week.

Thanks to all for the well-wishes of our upcoming trip home. We leave the camp on Wednesday morning, overnight in Nairobi. Grant has meetings on Thursday and we fly out to South Africa at 16h00 that day.