Of course whilst we had been away walking… other things had been happening. Nikki and Ellie had been in Morocco, when Ellie was back she was at school prize giving where she picked up a couple of awards. Sadly though, Nikki also had to deal with one of her horses, Murphy, being put down. His arthritis had reached a point where the vet advised that he needed to be allowed to leave the world. Sad day.

On Friday 20th, Tricia and Ellie took Isobel to ‘fairies and dragons’ at Woburn for a birthday treat. On Sunday 22nd we had a family dinner, bbq’d chicken and salad. Gran and Gramps, Nikki and Matt, Robbie and Amy came over. Clive, who was on his own as Pat was down in Bournemouth and Alex away came and joined us. Thursday 26th Tricia had a funeral in the morning. One of the ladies in her art class had unexpectedly passed away whilst we were doing the coast to coast. Then in the afternoon she had to take her Dad to Amersham hospital for a minor op. Friday 27th we hosted curry night – we had hoped to sit outside, but after weeks of dry weather, it rained…

Thursday 2nd August…. not a day Tricia was looking forward to, as she had to have oral surgery for the infection that had been bothering her for a month or so.  The surgery went well, but she will be on antibiotics for a while, and limited on what she can eat. Friday 3rd I dropped Robbie and Amy off at Heathrow as they went off on their Munich holiday. During the trip Robbie proposed to Amy… and she said yes!

Sunday 12th we had a family lunch again… Nikki was over, but no Matt as he was away in Cumbria. Amy and Robbie were away for the weekend, but Ellie had her boyfriend Matt over.

This last week had plenty happening…. the shower pump failed, we got Stephen Gurney  in to put in a replacement. Roy was in resealing the bath after a leak, and repairing the dining room ceiling… and he fixed a fence panel for us. Tricia had her bank accounts hacked, but fortunately TSB sorted out within 24 hours.

Ellie had her A level results this week, she did ok, and is off to Lincoln Uni. It was also our 32nd wedding anniversary :-). Tricia and I went for a meal at the Pilgrim to celebrate.