The last blog covered Tricia’s accident… well the insurance company decided that the repair would be more than the value of the car, and so it was written off. Pants. Well the value agreed was pretty close to what we paid for it, so that was ok. The cheque has arrived and its in the bank waiting to clear before we find another. In the meantime its a pain just having the one car. Tricia is off to the physio tomorrow following the whiplash she had. Fortunately her Dad can take her for her appointment.

Tricia and Rob completed their 8 day trek across Dartmoor and Exmoor. Unfortunately the weather in the previous months had led to the moors and pathways being more like a swamp than a moor and fields were like quagmires, so instead of being a pleasant summer trek it turned into a challenge… a challenge to do the walk, and a challenge to keep dry, and a challenge sometimes to stay upright. As Tricia explained… on the penultimate day of walking, they had struggled across a field when she slipped and went down in the mud. If it hadn’t been that they had only one day left, they would probably have called it quits and come home. But they didn’t, and I picked them up last Wednesday evening at Reading station…. tired and worn out. Here are some photo’s from their trip. Robbie at the start, then a couple of Tricia, one in the rain! And then one of them both at the end of the walk…. Asked about any further plans for walks, Robbie said, yes… but only in a place where it doesn’t rain

Of course, whilst Tricia and Rob were away, Ellie and I were at home. I took the Friday and Monday they were away as days off, worked from home a couple of days, and had a few days in the office. On the Saturday I had intended to take Ellie to the ‘Festival of History’, an event just outside Northampton. But that was cancelled due to the weather… so, instead we went to Stratford Upon Avon. Ellie had been doing a school project on Shakespeare, and so this seemed apt. We went to Anne Hathaways cottage, Shakespeares birthplace, had an open top bus tour around the town, went to see where he was buried, where he went to school, and then where his daughter lived… and Ellie recorded a videoblog in each place, which she then turned into a small film… which she submitted as her homework. She got a ‘deputy head award’ for the work. Some pictures from the day. First off Ellie… like mother like daughter. On a ‘midsummer nights themed wooded walk’ around Anne Hathaways cottage, a cat took a liking to Ellie. Then one of Ellie with the ‘fairies’ (as we walked around there were passage from MSND up on the trees… Ellie read the ones from Titania, I did the ones from Oberon and Puck). Then one of Ellie outside Anne H’s cottage. Then in Stratford itself, outside Shakespeares birthplace, Ellie with a Shakespeare lookalike. Next is Ellie in a cafe, writing out her csript for her vido, then one on the bus, and finally, the resting place of the Bard. We had a good day out.

On the way back from Stratford we picked up Nikki from Bicester station. She stayed overnight with us Saturday night, and then came with us to visit Deb & Carlos on the Sunday. Carlos was celebrating being in the UK for 40 years… come October we will have been friends for 40 years. The weather was reasonable and it was good to catch up with everyone. We then had a long trip home via Heathrow, where we dropped Nikki off. She was off to Switzerland for a weeks training. Here is a picture of Carlos… in Portuguese shirt, with a Portuguese flag… despite living in the UK for 40 years

Nikki is back from Switzerland and back in Bath. She has been having an achilles problem for the last few months and can’t seem to shake it off. So, this Friday she is off to London for some treatment – she is having blood taken, then in some way the platelets are condensed and injected into the achilles… sounds lovely Apparently it will then take a few weeks to recover.

This last weekend Tricia and I had a weekend in Chester with our friends Pat and Clive. The M6 was a bit busy on Friday afternoon, but we arrived around 6pm to find Tricia had booked us a lovely B&B. Very welcoming. On the Saturday we walked the City wall, went to the cathedral.. and of course did some shopping. Which I didn’t mind as the city centre was a an interesting historical mix of buildings. In the evening we did a ‘ghost tour’ which was a walk around the city, stopping at various buildings… at the end of which, around 9pm, the city centre was full of some ‘sights’. Hen parties, and scouse girls ‘tarted up’ for their night out. Sunday we went out to the Wirral, and did a 6 mile walk along a disused railway line to West Kirby… and the weather was lovely (at last!). We finished the afternoon at ‘Port Sunlight’ where there was an extra bonus, a number of vintage cars. We arrived back home Monday evening. Back to work yesterday. Some piccies from the weekend. First off Pat… in usual mode, enjoying a glass of champagne. Then Clive and me outside an old guys shop. Then Pat and me sat in the cathedral garden, and inside the cathedral itself.