For the first day of Friends Week, I woke up at 4am, like a kid waking early for Christmas! Only to discover it was pouring with rain, so I wondered how many people, if any, would turn up in such weather?

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find that 21 brave souls turned up early morning on a Monday, on a rainy day, to try out tai chi at Kew Gardens.. Luckily the spot we'd chosen has a nice huge tree, like a giant umbrella, big enough for people to have room to move without bumping into each other, but still sheltered from the rain.

Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, which is always very pleasing, and I was happy myself too!

One of my friends turned up to the second session, so we sloped off for a very nice breakfast after tai chi, then later I tried out the plant identification quiz (I recognised 2 out of 10!). Tomorrow I hope to try out the walk through the wild parts of Kew, which are usually closed to the public, and later this week, I'm going to have a go at getting on the Kew electric vehicle tour of the Gardens, and hopefully see the Marianne North film too. There are also other lectures and debates on specifically for Friends, for just this week, so it's a matter of pacing myself, to fit in what's possible to see and do!

There is no better place than Kew for tai chi - not only is it a wonderful place, with very healthful and beautiful surroundings, but everyone is so friendly and helpful! Great stuff!