VIVA ESPANA

Whilst the UK has been dripping in the humid high 30s, the weather on the Costa Blanca has been perfect. Day after day of cloudless skies with pleasant breezes to keep the thermometer around 30-32c.

Hot enough to discourage much serious daytime activity other than a mandatory visit to the local market

but not excessive enough to warrant any doom laden global warming media predictions as in the UK!

My sister’s grandchildren, Victoria and George visited us for a few days.

It was great to see them again after such a long time. Lots of time was spent swimming,

terrifyingly looping the loop

being thrown around on a giant pendulum

and getting soaked ‘shooting the rapids’. All highly entertaining.

We did find time, though, for some more sedate activities walking in one of the many national parks in the area

and taking a look at the nautical extravagances of the well heeled in Denia marina.

Their time with us was all too short.

A few days on our own was followed by the arrival of my son, Jon, his wife and their two lovely daughters (my grandchildren).

10 year old , ever smiling, Mia is a delight;

quiet, unassuming, polite and helpful (at least when she was with us!) whilst her 5 year old sister, Elodie

is much more outgoing – bubbly, inquisitive, challenging and totally gorgeous. I am blessed to have 2 such lovely young girls in the family. It seemed very quiet after they left us!

All good thins come to an end, though as we embarked on the long drive back to the UK, stopping at a friend’s house on the banks of the Dordogne in France and then onwards for a couple of night’s with my sister

– to do some more weeding before heading for Calais and the channel tunnel.

A busy 2 weeks awaits us before we depart to Thailand but more of that later.

R