27th December 2021 Unusually, the winter weather witches have been kind to me while I’ve been busy demolishing the pool; they could easily have turned the huge volume of soil to be shifted into something resembling the Somme or maybe even the Arctic tundra. Instead, dull and temperate days made for easy digging, wheelbarrowing, and… Continue Reading

20th November 2021 With November rapidly running out, the family seem intent on ramping up their activities in readiness for the coming festive season. Sarah had arranged to meet up with Chloe and Abby over the weekend of the 20th for a bit of girly carousing, but it didn’t end well. Chloe is the physio/first… Continue Reading

21st November 2021 Over the past couple of weeks, both Sue and I have been hectically busy. Not a day has passed without Sue dashing off on one of her U3A rambles or group meetings, while I have been tackling all those jobs in the garden that I had successfully been putting off all summer.… Continue Reading

25th October 2021 Usually, one of the first tasks after returning from holiday is to sort through the many photos I have taken, deleting the poor ones and duplicates, and saving the rest into a file on a removable drive. From these, I create a lasting memory by producing a video to show the rest… Continue Reading

30th September 2021 A Testing Day Before breakfast, we had to take our UK government-mandated Covid ‘Fit to Fly’ tests,  a process that felt only slightly less dramatic than diving underwater. The test itself was straightforward. Although we were officially supposed to stream a video of the procedure, our Fit to Fly organiser simply required… Continue Reading

28th September 2021. Crater wandering. For the first time on this trip, we awoke to a bright, sunny day instead of the usual heavy rain. After breakfast, we were soon on our way to explore the highlands. The surrounding mountains and volcanoes were free of cloud, promising good visibility for those willing to risk the… Continue Reading

26th September 2021 Breakfast at the hotel was a substantial buffet, though COVID regulations required guests to wear masks when not seated and to use plastic gloves while selecting and handling food. By the time we arrived at 8 a.m., the restaurant was already very busy, and we were fortunate to find a vacant table.… Continue Reading

24-25 September 2021 With some trepidation, I met Jamie at the ‘Test to Fly’ office in Syston on the 24th. In my view, he had booked the RT-PCR test rather too late to allow for any contingency, should anything go wrong. However, as it turned out, my concerns were unfounded. We were tested, provided with… Continue Reading

28th August 2021 The week after returning from Iceland was, as expected, a whirlwind of domestic chaos. The house and garden both seemed to have thrown a tantrum in our absence, demanding immediate attention. True to form, the ever-unreliable British weather did its best to dampen spirits, literally, but Sue soldiered on and mostly conquered… Continue Reading

21st August 2021 A sea-day of forms. The clocks went forward an hour last night, so breakfast at 7.30 am felt rather early. It took a while to come round, and the choppy North Atlantic swell, combined with the realisation that we’re homeward bound, didn’t do much to lift the spirits. Still, all good things… Continue Reading