Off we go

by Dani

We’re setting off bright and early in the morning, so this is just to say farewell for a week or so. Everything is finally packed, in two big rucksacks, two small rucksacks, a bike trailer, and a coolbag. Plus we’ve got Pearlie’s bike, and a pop up tent for our gear to overspill into. I hope we can move about with all that – our plan is to walk between stations in London, rather than trying to negotiate escalators etc. The trailer and bike can be connected together, so one person can manage both those plus a rucksack. Should be OK.

The archaeological dig went well. Here’s the ring before it went into the ground.

Today was another group-filled day, with Kids Club for Leo (he and his friend R. made an epic film), another games session and Woodcraft Folk for Pearlie, and last minute shopping, packing,cleaning, and going to work (in Allie’s case) for us.

Pearlie asked an interesting question about whether you would be more likely to get sunburned if you were very tiny, which led onto a bit of conversation about surface area and volume at different scales, and about why doubling the area of something on a photocopier requires an enlargement of 141% (a number Pearlie recognised as the square root of 2).

Anyway, that’s all for now. See you on the other side!

We’re Ba-ack!

Well, that was a strange experience – nearly a month with no internet at home. Apologies to all those to whom we owe emails and so on. I lapsed back into a pre-internet state and actually got quite calm about it. I have read more books and watched some old videos. Dani was looking decidedly twitchy by the middle of last week (she says it was actually by the second day!) and I think she is very relieved to be back online. The kids were pretty ok with it, though they missed i-player.

A catch-up is impossible. Here’s a few things, in no particular order.

Pearlie had her eleventh birthday last week. We went to Bath for an overnight stay and bought her a new bicycle there. It is a rather fabby Dahon and should last her forever, or until she reaches 6 foot 4!

Bath was lovely. We stayed in a Travelodge room for £26 and crammed in lots of fun. We went on a little boat trip up the river, in the beautiful, early evening sun. We also visited the Bath Fashion Museum and went to Pizza Express for a birthday meal.

We all enjoyed a sunny, family gathering in the park in honour of P’s birthday.

I have been enjoying a continuing dalliance with the writing of Ali Smith. I was mesmerised by Hotel World and have read two of her books of short stories too.

Leo has been prompted to learn a joined up writing style by Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide. We bought a little workbooky thing, which goes through each join in turn, and he’s doing some every day. He is pleased with it and has abandoned his previous writing style (mixture of upper and lower case letters) and is using it all the time.

Pearlie has been enjoying all her birthday presents. She got lots of Jessops vouchers and has had a lovely splurge of processing. Some of her pictures are gorgeous. She got a plant for her room and some lights for her new bike, and is planning to buy an i-pod. She got clothes, too, and has been looking very sophisticated.

Leo is back to reading the end of the Amber Spyglass but has also started The Hobbit.

Dani has made lots of progress with her big, celtic knot blanket.

Pearlie went away for a weekend camp with her Woodcraft group. She had a great time, including playing games in the dark! Leo got to choose dinners while she was away and we ate lots of veggie lasagne and fruit crumbles.

We’ve bought tickets for an exciting Festival show, which we’re all looking forward to. Dani and I have also treated ourselves to tickets to see kd Lang in August. It’ s Pride weekend so everyone should be on a high. If you want an example of how spine tingling kd can be, when singing live, then check this out on YouTube.
Anyway, better get some sleep as electrician is coming tomorrow to fit the new fuse box.

Holiday

St Ives was as lovely as ever.

Visiting so early in the year meant it was much quieter than in the high season. We stayed in the same gorgeous flat we’d been to in 2004 and 2005. Leo has long held that he is going to buy it when he grows up. The window makes you feel like you’re right out in the world.

We visited the Tate, where Dani and I admired landscapes by Margo Maeckelberghe. The kids were captivated by a Grayson Perry work called Print for a Politician.

We did a circular walk of about five miles to the church at Lelant.




When I was a child, one of the things I did with my dad was to go for long country walks to various churches in Sussex. I can remember being more interested in things like whether or not we had any sweets than the churches. But the smell and the strange darkness on a summer day are very vivid in my memories. Anyway, it seems that I have inherited the need to pop a coin in the box and take the little booklet that tells the history of the church. So I wittered on at the kids for a bit and they were pleased with the Norman font…

We were blown away (not literally, though it was gusty!) by the beautiful views as we walked along. I fell in love with the houses huddled against the cliff at Hawk’s Point. We saw a kestrel on the way back. We were alongside the railway line for most of this walk. Anyone who has ever been to St Ives and not arrived by train has really missed something. I think it’s just about the most beautiful train journey I know.

Another good walk was up to Knill’s Monument. The rhododendron bushes are all being destroyed in an attempt to control Sudden Oak Death fungus. This was a bit sad but, luckily for us, the workmen doing that job were having their lunch break at the monument. They were able to confirm that the birds we had spotted were buzzards and they showed us where to spot St Michael’s Mount on the horizon.

It was Leo’s 8^th birthday while we were there. I find it rather astonishing that he has got to such an advanced age already! He got a toy alethiometer, a spyglass in little wooden box and a very dinky little portable DVD player. Pearlie gave him a DVD of Ice Age, which they watched together on the train home.

It was a trip that was very heavy on reading (and pasties, as my waistline demonstrates) and I’m not sure if I can remember all the books that were read. Pearlie read two more books in the Ally’s World books she’s been enjoying, as well as a Jacqueline Wilson. Leo read an Alistair Fury book and a new Jamie Rix, Grizzly Tales book. Dani finished a book all about the Natural History Museum, called Dry Store Room No. 1 by Richard Fortey. She also borrowed a book from the local library about communities in Penwith in the twentieth century. I read a Ruth Rendell (that Pearlie and Leo gave me for Mothers’ Day) then wolfed down a Jeanette Winterson called The Stone Gods that I had somehow missed. By the last day I was without book and treated myself to The Accidental by Ali Smith, which I’ve just finished.

One of the most enjoyable things we did was to hide some treasure for cousins who are visiting St Ives next month. I can say no more, but it was good fun and I hope it remains undisturbed until they get there!

Dani and the kids had a good swim at the local pool (I had managed to cut my leg on a stick, so didn't go in) and we ate lots of ice-cream most days. Leo discovered that he loved apple, pear and custard pasties. Pearlie got a nice pair of sandals that should last the summer. Oh, and we travelled very cheaply. It cost just £85.80 for all four of us to get to St Ives and back. This was done by using family railcard and single tickets. The kids travelled home today for £3.50 each! Journeys were simple and we made all connections, in spite of the fact that most of the underground was closed today.

Here's a few more photos to give you a flavour of the trip

Reunited

It’s been a funny weekend, with Pearlie away. We took the opportunity to get started on painting her room, so I went to B&Q on Friday night (in the pouring rain) to get paint, and Allie and I stayed up stupid late filling, priming and painting.

Leo and I spent a peaceable and productive Saturday together. He went to a writing workshop at the library in the morning, which he enjoyed greatly. The workshop was being run to encourage kids to enter the Write around Air Street competition which is currently running, and he came up with a lovely poem about clouds:

Clouds

When I look up high I see…

A pirate ship sailing to France,
Speech bubbles hanging over people,
Mashed potatoes waiting to be eaten,
Ice cream melting in the sun,
And peas rolling down a blue plate.

© Leo, 2007

He is hopeful about winning, but I think it will inevitably be something of a lottery, as they are bound to get loads of entries.

While we were waiting for the library to open, we looked at a photographic exhibition in the square outside, which has been put together by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. I told Leo some basic facts about HIV and AIDS. When I said that HIV stood for ‘human immunodeficiency virus’, he astonished me by thinking for a second and then coming straight back with “so it affects their immune system”. He was bewildered by my explanation that people in poor countries continue to die from AIDS because they can’t get hold of the expensive drugs they need – “why don’t they just send them the drugs?”, he said. Why, indeed? I took and sent some postcards being given out by a volunteer standing next to the exhibition, to ask my MP and the prime minister the same question.

Allie had gone to work by the time we got home, having squeezed in a bit more painting, so we pottered about together for the afternoon. He rattled out several more fantastic comics, I read an interesting book I’d borrowed from the library, and made brioche dough, we popped into the local community centre where there was an arts and crafts fair going on, but didn’t buy anything.

By 4 o'clock, when we had to go out again, it was really pouring down, and we both got soaked during the 5 minute walk to the bus stop. Cousin B’s birthday celebration was an extended family gathering at a pizza restaurant in town. We met Allie there, together with 3 cousins, 3 aunts and uncles, 4 grandparents, plus two more of B’s grandparents as well. Pearlie was missed, but it was a lovely meal, and we all made pigs of ourselves.

Once Leo was in bed, Allie and I made the mistake of pressing on with the decorating instead of going to bed ourselves, with the result that she has been laid up with a cracking migraine all day today.

Leo has produced loads more brilliant comics today, all without ever getting dressed! I cooked brioche for a late breakfast (yummy, but quite a hassle to make), tidied up, looked after Allie a bit, and gratefully accepted a lift from a friend when it was time to go and collect Pearlie.

She seems to have had a fantastic time, and came back bubbling with tales of rain soaked walking, hilarious games, a spider-filled attic, close proximity to cows, and enormous waves crashing over the marina wall on their journey home. It’s good to have her back.

Family Reunions

We got Pearlie back on Friday, looking very bronzed and full of tales of seaside hi-jinks and campfire games. She said she had a good time, but was very pleased to be home. She went straight to the computer to set up an MSN account so she can keep in touch with the new friends she made at camp.

We’ve had a busy weekend, involving:

• Tennis in the park for Allie and Pearlie


• Weeding and cherry picking in the garden for me and Leo


• A lovely cherry cake


• Breakfast in bed for me and Allie, thanks to Pearlie, who thought it was not right for us to let our anniversary weekend pass without any celebration (lack of funds this year), so secretly bought us each a ‘Guess how much I love you?’ bookmark, made us a card, and cooked us both crumpets on Sunday morning.


• A pleasant picnic in Kensington Gardens, with my parents, my sister and her family. This involved some romping about in the Princess Diana Memorial playground (a little bit too health & safety for my liking, with a bouncer on the door to keep out children with no adults and adults with no children, and other staff patrolling to make sure glass containers were removed safely from the playground),
  some picnicking under lovely trees by the pond,
  
  some long-awaited catching up chat for the girls and some mutual lessons in how to be an annoying little brother for the boys.
  


• Another extended family day at the grandmothers’ allotment. All the kids dug a few potatoes, which we’ve brought home for their tea, then we removed their little trampling feet from the precious ripe crops and took them to run around at the nearby cricket field, where we all picked blackberries.
  


• The eventual completion of my Penrose tile blanket. Here it is, with a crochet border and everything.
  
  
  

Crafty Camping with Chrestomanci

Leo and I had a fine time at camp, though I must say I ended the week rather more tired than I began. Woodcraft Folk camp is organised along quite communist lines, with everyone obliged to participate in the work of running the camp, through a system of ‘clans’. There’s no Gulag involved, but it’s in many ways quite the opposite of the self-pleasing life of the autonomously educated child. Leo had no trouble adjusting to this new reality, and turned up for all his duties with enthusiasm. He’s showing no inclination to increased helpfulness around the house now that he’s home, however!

In between shifts of cooking (for 100!), washing up, cleaning toilets, fetching wood etc, we did some fun things, including:

• Tie dying and screen printing. After some initial difficulty getting to grips with the requirements of the screen printing process, Leo finally produced this lovely golden dalek.
  
  I had a go at this too, and was pleased with my two-tone Penrose tiled fabric.
  
  
• Making salt dough and modelling with it. In about five inspired minutes, Leo sculpted this amazing pig slave head (as in Daleks in Manhattan). Everyone who saw this (including me) was quite stunned by it.
  
  
• Running a stall at the pea fair, introducing people to Japanese Kumihimo braiding, which we first learned about at the Bridges maths and art conference last summer. A pea fair is a lovely event, entirely improvised on the spot, at which people offer each other games, activities and goods for sale, using a currency of dried peas. As well as our stall, there was a whack the rat type game, something involving sponges being thrown, face painting, beautiful decorated mirrors, salt dough creations and origami for sale.
• A walk in some lovely woods near the campsite
• Playing Doctor Who, sometimes with a friend, and sometimes happily alone. My improvised washing line was further improvised by Leo into a climbing frame for Dalek Sec hybrid
  
  
• A bit of knitting. My Penrose blanket is nearly finished.
• Singing songs by the fire, melting marshmallows, eating chocolate bananas cooked in the embers and other fireside activities.
• Reading. I finished Fermat’s Last Theorem, and Leo and I both enjoyed Charmed Life, by Diana Wynne Jones. This is the first book in the Chrestomanci series, published in the 1970s, of which I’m sure I read some as a child. We are now on the hunt for more of them.

I’m pleased to be home. I think we were both a bit tired by the end of the week, though Leo is keen to go on another weekend camp with his Woodcraft group, so he must have enjoyed it.

It’s quite strange here without Pearlie. She’s phoned a couple of times from her camp, and seems to be having a great time.

And when it was good it was very, very good...

HESFES

Well, I don’t think I’ve ever camped with more insane weather than the week we just spent at HESFES. The weather was largely responsible for the horrid bits. So, let’s get those out of the way.

The journey there!

This included the following:
Mighty rain storm that soaked Dani and Pearlie as they attempted London cycling.
Bike trailer mishap that slowed D and P in their ride to the campsite from Colchester. This involved diversion to bike shop and buying of bigger spanner!
Two more downpours, through which D and P rode on. Our astonishing P managed to cope with this and the fact that the wiggly route made the ride 16 miles long and the weather made it four hours!
My mobile phone dying unexpectedly at Colchester station – leaving me with only crappy pay phone as means of contacting D on the road.
Misunderstanding which led to friend going to wrong station to collect me and Leo. In the end I piled tired boy into cab and took that all the way to the campsite.

Tent struggled

Saturday night I woke to horrendous rain, which was pouring through one of the tent doors. It was also threatening to overwhelm other parts of the tent. Kids were rolling about a lot (probably disturbed by weather) and I ended up sitting in the middle of everyone, crying and vowing never to camp again!
We spent a lot of money at the campsite shop in the morning, buying tape to seal one door, re-proofing spray to encourage the tent to actually repel rain, and lots of rope etc. We lashed our spare tarp (which was supposed to be covering the bikes!) over the tent on the windward side. This helped a lot during the rest of the week, when it continued to…

Piss Down

It rained every day, not continuously, but repeatedly. If someone says ‘showers’ you imagine little tinkly rain, yes? Well, this was big, ploppy rain that could form a little river and flow under your tent door in a moment. Or, it could soak a child’s hoody, or the towel you’d left ‘drying’ on the guy rope. Even better, it could appear just as you crouched over your little camping cooker trying to coax it into boiling water for tea.

Wind?

Yes, crazy, rattling, tent-felling wind. Our little tent survived, partly as it was surrounded by larger tents, but many people had bowing tent roofs and walls. The last night was scary. I had a wonderfully vivid dream about stupidly bedding down with the kids in a room in a condemned house that was actually falling off the side of the building.

Lack of sleep

See above. There is enough room in a three person tent for all four of us, but not when wind and rain are disturbing everyone. I also developed a ‘don’t touch the sides’ obsession and so would wake in the night to move people’s feet!

The bike trailer

This had a problem on the way (solved) and another on the way back (as yet, unsolved), which meant we had to walk the bikes and trailer through London on the way home. In the end it felt like we had three big, annoying, wheeled bits of luggage, rather than the slick people and gear moving system we’d started out with…

But that is more than enough moaning.

Here are the very, very good bits.

Good people

Numerous people helped us over the week. We had an offer of sleeping space in another tent, which we didn’t need in the end, but which made me feel that staying and trying was possible. Leo’s scooter was carried there and back by another friend, which meant he had a vehicle, which he enjoyed a lot. Someone took P’s bike to Colchester station for us, which meant we could all cab it to the station on the return journey (D’s bike folds) and so got home at a reasonable hour.

HESFES vibe and hanging out…

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this, but it was good. Yes, the teenagers do get drunk – but that is what I did at their age, and not in such a mutually supportive atmosphere. And, there was no nasty undertone of violence that you often get when people are hanging around drinking. There was a bit of annoying noise late at night, but they couldn’t really compete with the wind!

The kids were able to find their own level of independence and enjoy it. P spent a lot of time cycling about, finding good things to do. She found out who Andy was and asked if Duck Rock could appear in the children’s cabaret. She bought wool and knitted a scarf. She appeared at the tent with lovely weaving. She joined in with the music workshop and played in the end of week show. She also hung around with friends and watched teenagers doing crazy things, like making an exploding pepsi bottle by adding mentos!

Leo stayed closer to us – which was his own choice. He loved the swingball that someone had brought and got very good at using the scooter to balance and glide. He and I enjoyed bashing metal to make bowls. He was sad to find that there was no keyboard available for Duck Rock’s performance, but he rose to the challenge of singing instead! He’d had enough by the end of the week, but managed the journey home very well, considering how tired he was.

The children’s cabaret

This was one hell of a long night. We got the marquee at about 6.30pm and Duck Rock performed at 10.30pm. There were some really great acts – lots of variety. I enjoyed the whole thing and was heartened by the diversity – everything from poetry recitation to rock bands and little kids telling made up stories to gymnastics by girls in leotards. Good stuff!

Science breakfasts and an astronomy talk

Both of these had the (always pleasing) ingredients of people who are passionate about their subject and a willing audience. The astronomy guy kept saying things that seemed to contradict the science I was sure I’d been taught at school – so that was good for me. Dani particularly enjoyed some of the discussion at the science breakfasts that addressed science as a process and the development of ideas.

The beach

I always enjoy beaches – a place to get away from hustle and bustle. Leo would happily spend hours on any beach, especially one with dead crabs...

The conference

We managed to catch several sessions between us. I listened to Ian Dowty and was impressed by his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things home ed law related. I didn’t take notes, which I should have done, but was left with some useful snippets I didn’t know and some ideas to ponder.
Dani went to the session on the consultation, which was good. Hang on, little announcement needed:
Hey, People! Respond to the Consultation!

Singing round the campfire

I’m not hardy enough to find this enjoyable in the rain, so I missed most evenings, but I did enjoy one evening of singing. A woman with a spine tingling voice appeared out of the night, like an angel, sang ‘Maggie May’ and left. Who was this person??

The end of week show

This was great. P played the drum in the HESFES band, which had tens of members. They played and sang ‘The Wall’ and a new HESFES song, which included the immortal lyrics:
“We know the answer to two times two,
And we socialise fine, thank you!”

So, that’s the summary. It was a challenging week, but I’m very glad we went. We failed to take photos as the weather made it too hazardous to take the camera out of the plastic bag at the bottom of the rucksack, that was in a bin bag, under the spare groundsheet!

Crete

We got back from Crete yesterday – here’s the edited highlights.

Tuesday

We flew out on a hideously timed plane – 5am departure. This meant we had to be at the airport at 3am to do all the waiting in queues stuff. Not having been on a plane for eleven years, D and I had no experience of the new level of security checks.

The kids had not really slept at all during the night and so, by the time we were nearing the end of the flight, L was either crying or asleep – in ten minute chunks. Not fun! He took against seat belts and I was somewhat concerned that we would find ourselves being restrained in an air-rage incident. Poor P had come out with a cold and her ears got very painful - though this cleared up in a day or so. Once we landed, in Chania, we were straight on a coach to our apartment in Georgopoulis.

Predictably, when we were safely there, and could sleep, both the kids perked up and immediately wanted to swim! But, at the end of the day, P did this – while we all drank tea and cocoa around her. I honestly think this is a first – P is usually last asleep.

Wednesday

Dani and Pearlie went to the ‘welcome meeting’ to find out about the trips being offered by the holiday company, while Leo and I stayed by the pool. We weren’t impressed and found better deals with a local tour operator – more later.

Not sure what else we did with that day – mostly buying food and wandering around getting our bearings. We did have quick trip to the beach and bought snorkel gear, which turned out to be a great buy.

This is the church in Georgopoulis

Thursday

We managed to negotiate local buses to Rethymno – about a half hour ride away.

We ate a picnic lunch in a local park, where the kids enjoyed the sort of fun play equipment that has long ago disappeared from our parks. D and I talked a lot about notions of danger and risk on this holiday – as we saw lots of things that made us gasp – little kids on the backs of mopeds with no helmets, in traffic, and so on.




Leo bought a rather beautiful new dragon in a toy shop – basically blowing all his holiday money in one go! We then went to the old ruined fort and the archaeological museum. The museum had beautiful stuff from Minoan times and Roman times - very quietly presented with no bells and whistles. The history of Crete is very complicated – different invasions and so on – and we saw this old Mosque at the fort.


I have come back determined to get a better organised chronology in my head! I know that there was an ancient Minoan culture, an Arab time, Venetian times, a long Turkish occupation and then brief independence and German occupation during the second world war – but I will seek out something to organise the timeline for me.

It got too hot then and we went to the bus station to look for a bus home. This was somewhat chaotic – no timetables and confusing announcements – but eventually we were ushered aboard a bus and it took us back to Georgopoulis.

Friday

Friday was a very early start for a trip to Knossos. This was a long way, picking up lots of people as we went along. The tour company seemed popular with German tourists, and I enjoyed listening to the German commentary and seeing how much I could follow with my twenty year old ‘O’ level language skills!

The palace was well worth the journey.

We had a lovely guided tour, in English, from a Cretan woman whose daughter had studied dance in London. She told us much more than we would have got from a guide book. Leo and I dipped out just before the end, as he was flagging. So we missed her telling, and interpreting, the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. I had a re-telling from Dani and it was fascinating.

This is a wooden copy of the throne of Minos (the king) - the original stone one was there but it was too dark to get a good shot.

We were then free in Heraklion for a couple of hours, where we bought gifts and wandered about. I had to get a photo of this bit of the Cretan approach to town planning.

I'm not being snooty. I rather liked the way things were just evolving and there was not a tendency to 'tidy everything up'.

Saturday

Saturday was another early start for a trip to the Samaria Gorge. Having been warned off attempting the whole walk, by a friend, we found a tour called ‘Samaria Gorge – lazy way’ and did that.

First we went up into the mountains, by coach, in the region of Sfakia. We stopped for coffee at this place with incredible views.



Then across the plane and down the other side of the mountains to a ferry. This took us to the end of the Samaria Gorge. The ‘easy way’ was, in fact, 8km of tricky walking in the hottest part of the day. But it was amazing scenery. The kids did very well – not ever having walked in such conditions before. Leo insisted on taking off his shirt and we were worried he would burn – but loads of sun cream did the trick.









The beautiful crystal water of the stream was clean enough to drink. The kids spotted some of the KriKri – the wild goats that only live in the gorge.

Back at the ferry we snatched a quick swim – strange stone beach and cold sea – the Libyan sea on that side of the island.

Home again for a dip in the pool and relaxing.

Sunday

On Sunday we took a little tourist road train from Georgopoulis to the Kournas Lake. Something mad happened to us and we took the children out on a pedalo. Neither D nor I are good with vehicles (except bicycles) but we managed. The Cretan relaxed attitude had overtaken us and we refused a life-jacket for Leo, rather than have him moaning about it all the time. The lake is actually deep, cold and big, but I reckoned both the kids could have made it to another pedalo – luckily we didn’t have to find out.

The lake was clearly a place where Cretan families like to spend a Sunday afternoon. We stopped for a swim and Dani tried out her Greek in a Taverna where the guy spoke no English. She was disappointed that he didn’t seem to understand a word! Most of the time we were embarrassed by the fluent English and obliging attitude of all the Cretan people we met. D and I talked a lot about tourism, culture and ethics. We’ve avoided holidays abroad since the kids came along and neither of us had ever been on a package before. We didn’t come to any clear conclusions about it all!

We all had a swim in the lake but P, in particular, was a bit put off by the muddy, insecty, environment – and the big, assertive geese!




Back in Georgiopoulis we went to the beach. In the evening we had a lovely meal out. P only really liked the chips (they were very good!), but Leo enjoyed baked Feta and fried courgette. D and I were given free Raki, but it was like rocket fuel and we couldn’t drink it! Vegetarian eating is easy on Crete - lots of yummy options.

Monday

Our last day was a pool and beach fest! One of the best things about this holiday was the opportunity for the kids to swim every day – and usually several times a day. They both got the hang of snorkelling – P braved the sea and saw fish. Leo confined his snorkelling to the pool – but loved it. I snorkelled for the first time too – my prescription goggles and a nose clip in place of the mask. My goggles mean that I can really see the fish, and so on – without them everything is a blur.





I am sitting here typing with a hacking cough (came back on the plane!), and horrible great red lumps, where I have reacted badly to mosquito bites! The mozzies were voracious. The kids didn’t react badly at all – they haven’t had enough bites in their lives, apparently. Dani wasn’t too bad (anti-histamine brought her bites down) but nothing is touching mine and they are huge – a couple are two inches in diameter and burning/itching. Ah well, I reckon that’s the price you pay for flying abroad and damaging the planet.

Overall, we were very glad we went on this holiday. Crete is a beautiful and fascinating place. I don’t think we’d do a holiday abroad every year (even if we could afford it) but it was lovely to get up every morning and know you could swim.

D and I both read ‘Weight’ by Jeanette Winterson and ‘Instances of the Number Three’ by Salley Vickers. Leo polished off one and half Humphrey books and wrote a lot in his diary and book of Moley stories. P did LOADS of kakuro and enjoyed working out the Greek signs everywhere. Dani knitted too.

So, that's it. Now we have to start planning for Hesfes…