2nd May 2024 We had planned to visit Joan and Phil in Italy last year, but the vagaries of the NHS appointment system meant it never happened. So it was with great anticipation that our long-delayed visit to Santa Vittoria finally began on the 2nd of May. A 2 a.m. drive to Stansted Airport added… Continue Reading

19th April 2024 On the day Sue and I flew back from Albania, most of the family enjoyed a day out on the water. It happened to be the day after Jamie’s birthday; some of his clients had treated him to a meal in London, and unfortunately, he didn’t make it back in time to… Continue Reading

17th April 2024: Saranda – Mesopotam – Blue Eye – Gjirokaster This morning, we continued our journey to Gjirokaster, also known as the Stone City. Overnight, the weather had taken a dramatic turn; the temperature dropped considerably, and there had been rain. Setting off after breakfast under a cloudy, gloomy sky, we left the beautiful… Continue Reading

14th April 2024  Tirana – Berat: It was an early start on a cloudless morning, shortly after breakfast. The coach departed at 8.30 a.m., and as it was a Sunday, the streets of Tirana were, for once, eerily quiet, entirely free from the traffic jams that had characterised the previous days. Our destination was Berat, renowned… Continue Reading

11th April 2024  Departure: Our Wizzair flight from Luton wasn’t until the afternoon, so there was no need to thrash our way down a motorway at some ungodly hour, as has become the norm in recent years. However, despite having been packed, checked, added to, and checked again the day before, we still woke before 7… Continue Reading

22nd March 2024 Sue and I met up with Charlotte and her family at Sarah’s for a Palmer family meal. Jamie and Ruth were in Cambridge for the weekend, celebrating Ruth’s birthday with a performance of Sleuth at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. Sarah and Lee had prepared a delicious Mexican meal for us all to… Continue Reading

18th March 2024 Fresh from the land of pasta and vino, Sue and I set off from Harborough early on Monday, 18th March, for a few days in the land of laverbread and Brains Bitter. We broke our westward journey with a visit to Old Oswestry Hillfort. Built and occupied during the Iron Age, it… Continue Reading

17th March 2024 Through family connections, my rugby chum Sean Perry was allowed to use an apartment in San Vito, Abruzzo, Italy, free of charge, and he kindly invited me to join him. It was a no-brainer with return flights costing less than £50 and shared parking fees. So, at 3 a.m. on the 10th… Continue Reading

7th March 2024 Saturday the 17th was a rare dry day, and the family made the most of it by keeping busy and getting out and about: Jamie, Ruth, and Joey flew out to the Swiss/French border for a week of snowboarding, having first dropped off their two rabbits in our greenhouse en route to… Continue Reading

17th February 2024 February continued much like the preceding months; rain was never far away. Even on the rare days when the clouds parted, and we glimpsed a few rays of hope, the sodden ground refused to shed its watery undergarment. The Welland remained swollen, and most fields lay baptised beneath an icy brown blanket.… Continue Reading