A Royal Invitation!... and a scoot past Windsor Castle!

Ok, this is probably not the way to start a blog, but as I am very, very excited, so please forgive....

I have been invited by the Queen to a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace! Wooohooo!!!


Rachel Colenso, Jeremy, Rosemary and Jasmine on Windsor Bridge

The event is to take place in June and is to celebrate 150 years of humanitarian action. The anniversaries in 2013 and 2014 mark the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863 and the adoption of the first Geneva Convention in 1864. As 2014 marks 100 years since the beginning of the First World War it will also be an opportunity to honour the work the British Red Cross carried out during this time. The Queens garden parties are a way of recognising and rewarding public service. I do feel it is now even more important for me to further, truly earn this honour, and so am looking to further my partnership with suitable organisations who would be interested in supporting The Britsh Red Cross. Anyone feeling this could be suitable is welcome to contact me on rachelcolenso@gmail.com 

Over the last 8 days we have covered two further sections of our journey and are now officially 1/3 of the way. We have many months ahead!

Last week we started at the end of Church lane on the western bank of the Thames towpath. The towpath is variable and very narrow in parts, making it tricky to use a three wheel scooter. Jeremys offroad Micro-scooter worked well on most of the terrain and my floral design scooter took to the narrow paths easily, so needless to say Jasmine and Rosemary decided to use our scooters with the handlebars on the lowest setting, whilst Mum and Dad trailed behind carrying their scooters over our shoulders.

Closer to Windsor the path diverts to the Northern/ Eastern bank as the opposite bank is part of the Royal Estate. - So we were only able to glimpse at the view of the other side from between the trees! Then there is one rather unfortunate diversion around a farmer's field on a path made for anorexic mice. - I guess it was necessary to plant that extra row of barley, or whatever, but it did make our journey a touch tedious. Rosemary found a pheasant feather which cheered us along, and Jasmine sang variations of "Who put their finger in the Jelly, Nelly?"

Then, before we knew it Windsor Castle appeared, and we were all spurred on to make the final
stretch through the town of Windsor. - Magnificent! Our best moment being a stop for ice-creams in Windsor, and being offered a donation for our scoot on the pedestrian bridge in Windsor, which is situated in a beautiful location, with river, castle, swans and boats.

Continuing through the fields beyond Windsor gave the girls a chance to run wild on the grass with other children and enjoy superb views of the castle. The final stretch gave Mum and Dad a scooting chance, on a wide cycle path alongside the river (but not too close!). Eventually, rather exhausted, we reached the car park in Boveney.