It's great to see my mother and sisters again, after two years absence! We are catching up, drinking a lot of tea and watching my tiny niece playing in my mother's garden. There are eighteen years between my niece and my younger daughter, the nearest cousin in her maternal family. She's an unexpected gift for us all! At 86, my mother delights in her three year old grand-daughter. Today, Annabelle has gone to the seaside, to play with a bucket and spade :-)

The view from our caravan park cabin, while we were away from home during the renovations.

water hot is a glorious thing

This year's big project - a much needed bathroom renovation - is almost complete. It gave me nightmares to contemplate it, but the actual work went very smoothly once it was begun. The cat moved into a cattery, we moved into a caravan park for the duration, and a team of experienced Bathroom Fairies came in and magically transformed the bathroom and laundry in our absence. I think I'll leave a sixpence under a pillow for them, since they took the old bathroom away.

We used the opportunity to go green with a new solar hot water system, too. The heat pump exchanges energy, and draws heat out of the air, to store it in the hot water tank. Good for the budget and the environment, and the government gives generous rebates for the installation!