ON Wednesday, July 30, Andy and I had the great pleasure of opening Ferne Animal Sanctuary’s fun day – we went with family, which is always a pleasure at Ferne.

Children have so much to do there and quite often it is the simple day-to-day animals that delight them most.

Highlight of my day? Trying to guess whose poo was in whose jam jar! We could see the new “Digs for Dogs” building in the background taking shape – I am looking forward to seeing the finished building soon.

The last couple of weeks have taken in the commemoration of 100 years since the start of the First World War – we visited St Mary’s Church in Chard twice, the first to see the First World War demonstration, which included items from the war and plenty of moving stories of local families.

Secondly, a Sunday service, which was all about remembrance.

We planted a rosemary bush near the entrance to the churchyard so that we do not forget all the sacrifices that were made in order for us to live the life we now do.

Everyone who attended the church was given a small rosemary bush to grow at home – mine is already in its tub and will live for years, I hope, so that I can remember planting the larger one in the churchyard.

On Monday, August 4, at the invitation of the chairman of Somerset County Council, Andy and I travelled to Taunton to attend the church service to commemorate the beginning of the the First World War 100 years ago.

The service was very moving and attended by people from the whole of Somerset. A very poignant part of the service was the display of names of the fallen from all the towns of Somerset randomly appearing on screens throughout the service.

Afterwards, we had tea and cake at the Museum of Somerset.

On Saturday, August 2, I was invited to present the prizes at Combe horticultural show in Combe St Nicholas church. I am not a gardener but am always amazed at the perfect exhibits these shows bring out. The children’s section in particular was great: animals made from vegetables – I remember making these as a child for Tatworth flower show – pictures of mum and dad, a tray garden and a mask were all categories here. We finished the day with tea and cake – oops!

Then on Saturday, August 9, we were invited to open the fete at St Guilda’s sheltered housing in Chard. The weather held off and Chard majorettes provided us with a lovely display – I am looking forward to seeing them again at Chard Carnival in October. We were treated to a lovely cream tea – my waistline is suffering!