We
travelled to Cheshire to join in Archie’s first birthday party. Despite some icy roads at the start and extensive road works on the motorway, we had a good journey north arriving just as the party was starting. It was lovely to catch up with Louise’s family (that’s her sister Jackie holding the cake), and meet some of Archie’s young friends and their parents. The birthday cake was home made and provided Archie with his first taste of chocolate. He devoured both colours of chocolate drops and a chocolate finger so we suspect chocolate will be a firm favourite in future! 
It was a lovely couple of hours and we were so pleased to be part of the celebrations.
We held our Family Thanksgiving over the first weekend in December. Jon was playing a gig in Austria and Lucy, James and Emma had a previous engagement but the rest of the UK based family all made it to The Nook. James Hannah, Rosie, and Ptolemy arrived Friday evening followed by Louise, Martin and Archie later that night. Jess, Oscar and Felix arrived Saturday morning with Jenny, Mark, Bethany, Callum and Elsie arriving at lunch time in time to start the festivities. We enjoyed a lovely family lunch before most of us went to the park complete with paper towels to dry the swings and slides after some heavy rain earlier!
After the park, the grandchildren, under Bethany’s excellent supervision, enjoyed a Grannie Annie Treasure Hunt which culminating in them finding a box of treasure that was carefully distributed amongst all the participants.
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Archie may not have been able to join in the Treasure Hunt but he was content to oversee the activities.
It was a lovely weekend.
We visited California to spend Thanksgiving with Jo and the children. Our arrival was 2 days after Oliver’s 13th birthday and Jo had arranged that we should all go out to supper at Henry’s Hi-Life BBQ Joint and Steakhouse 
that was ranked “Number 1″ in San Jose. It seemed fairly chaotic as we entered the bar area and had to place our orders before being allocated a table. When we were called forward for our food we entered a lovely dining room with great atmosphere and fantastic food.
We were joined for the meal by Jo’s partner Chuck and his ten year old twins, Ruby and Sam. It was a really nice family occasion.
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As a consequence of the awful wild fires in Northern California, the air quality in San Jose was terrible when we arrived and many schools were closed and all outdoor sporting events were cancelled. Jo still had to work until Thanksgiving eve so we spent our time packing up some of Jo’s stuff ready for a move into a new home with Chuck and his children at the end of the month. We were able to see their new home - it is in a lovely area and has very large rooms, large garage and drive as well as a big outdoor kitchen including a fridge!
For Thanksgiving we were invited to join Chuck’s family at the Pajaro Dunes Resort on the coast between Capitola and Monterey where they had rented apartments for a family gathering. We were immediately made welcome by Chuck’s mum, his sister and brothers, their partners and children and soon felt very much part of their family. It was very clear that Jo and her children were already well and truly part of Chuck’s extended family. The photo below (just prior to our Thanksgiving meal) is of all the family except for Gerry and the brother taking photographs!
I have taken cut outs from various photographs to show, Jo and Chuck, Alexander, Oliver, Sienna and Ruby and Sam
The smog that had greeted us on our arrival San Jose gradually dissipated over the next few days and was followed by heavy rains, the first for some months. Once the rain stopped Pajaro Dunes looked very beautiful.
On the Saturday morning before we returned to San Jose, Jo took Annie, Gerry and Alexander to Capitola pier and Oliver to the adjacent surfing beach. Gerry was given a new fishing rod by Jo and the children as a belated birthday present so he and Alexander were able to spend the morning fishing.
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Gerry thoroughly enjoyed the fishing catching 15 fish of various sorts.
The only commonality was that they were quite small. You can just make out one of the smaller fish in Gerry’s hand.
Alexander, however, may not have caught as many but he certainly had the biggest fish.
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We returned to Pajaro Dunes to say goodbye to Chuck’s family and then returned to San Jose on Saturday afternoon. Jo, Alexander, Oliver and Sienna also returned and we spent the rest of the day and Sunday morning packing Jo’s kitchen into boxes ready for the move. Chuck, Ruby and Sam came over to say goodbye before we left to fly home that evening.
Jo and Chuck seem so right together and the children also get on amazingly well. We are sure that they will be a very happy family once they have completed the move and settled in to their new home.
At the end of October we embarked on a week’s holiday in Malta. We stayed in the same hotel as previously and used local busses to travel all over the island. We managed lots of walking and some lovely seafood meals. On our first full day we set off to walk along Dingli Cliffs. Unfortunately, the clouds descended and enveloped us and the rain was torrential. Our waterproof jackets and shoes worked well but we still got quite wet. Not only was the rain horrible but also a restaurant where we hoped to find shelter and food had closed down since our last visit!! After the rain eased we visited Mdina with its narrow streets – it was a good end to a rather wet day (we found out later that Dingli Cliffs had had 76mm of rain).
The next day was much better weather and although it did rain a little we had a lovely day in Valletta meeting up with friends David and Bridget Lindley who were also staying in Malta
We spent another day visiting the island of Gozo.
Originally, we had intended to use ordinary buses to see the island but we were offered half price tickets on one of the open top sightseeing busses. It was brilliant and we saw a lot of the island.
We were impressed with the cleanliness and relative smartness compared to the main island of Malta. There were many splendid looking churches on our trip including the one shown below.
We got off our bus to spend some time in Victoria the capital of Gozo located in the centre of the island. The town was busy and full of narrow winding streets and certainly built before the advent the motor car.
After a glass of wine in a little café we climbed up to the Cathedral which is situated in the Citadel high above the rest of the city. The Cathedral is a fine 17th century baroque building the interior of which is quite beautiful.
On the Sunday we took the bus to Mellieha and spent the morning walking along the top of a ridge before descending to the shore line and returning to the main road. It was a walk we have done several times and find quite enjoyable.
We then caught a bus to Golden Bay. The weather was lovely and the place very busy with families enjoying the aptly named beach. Not being beach people, we enjoyed a light lunch overlooking the sea before catching a bus directly back to our hotel.
The weather for our last full day was forecast to be good so we set off out early and spent an hour and a half walking on the cliffs at Dingli. From there, we caught a couple of buses to get to a place called Pretty Bay. From there we walked along the coast to Marsaslokk and a well earned lunch in an open air restaurant on the sea front.
Dawn from our hotel room on our last morning and the weather set to improve after our week of rain and clouds.
A good journey home completed another memorable stay in Malta.
With a few days of good weather forecast and an empty diary we headed to Yorkshire and our usual B&B (Pear Tree House) in Pickering. We arrived at lunch time and immediately set out on a walk up the valley beside the Pickering Beck. It was a lovely walk and we were treated to views of several trains including the one below,
The next morning we set off for 
Whitby visiting Grosmont station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) en route. Annie was looking in the station shop (Gerry was looking at engines) and found a book detailing a walk from Goathland Station to Grosmont via the track bed of the old 1834 railway line. The book was packed with fascinating information so we decided that we should do the walk the next day. However, on that morning we continued our drive to Whitby.
We had a stroll around Whitby which was surprisingly busy before visiting The Magpie for a wonderful lunch. After lunch we headed across the Moors to Farndale for one of our favourite walks beside the River Dove returning along a road which gave us superb views over the Dale. It was a great way to end our day.
The next morning, in brilliant weather we drove to Grosmont Station and caught the steam train to Goathland. We then followed instructions in our new book to meander the three and a half miles back to Grosmont. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk noting many bits of industrial archaeology that we wouldn’t have without the book. The walk is very gentle following the old track bed until we approached Grosmont. Here we deviated from the track bed as it joined the current railway line and we were not allowed to walk through the tunnel. Instead, we had to climb up and then down a fairly steep hill. However, the view of the station and the surrounding tress and town from the top of the hill made the effort worthwhile.
After coffee 
and a snack in the car we drove to Tbornton Le Dale a small town a couple of miles east of Pickering. We then set out on one of our favourite “strolls” along riverside field paths to the hamlet of Ellerburn with its ancient church and the Tea Cosy tea rooms. We enjoyed a cup of tea and some cakes before heading back to Thornton le Dale.
On our way back we passed this lovely cottage beside the beck.
We returned to Pickering feeling that our walks had earned us an evening visit to Spice 4 U, a really good curry house that we have visited at least once if not twice on every one of our stays in Pickering.
The next day, we headed home via Thorner and lunch with Bridget and David Lindley at their local Italian Restaurant. The journey back to Gloucestershire was very busy with the Sat Nav adding many minutes for delays (volume of traffic and rush hour). Gerry doesn’t like traffic jams and so we decided to drive down the Fosse Way. It may have taken as long as the main roads with their delays but we met no traffic and Gerry was able to enjoy the drive.
The
week was rounded off with an overnight visit from Lucy, James and Emma.
Emma enjoyed splashing in the puddles left by the heavy rain that fell after our return from Yorkshire!
Then on Monday, we spent the day in Bristol looking after Oscar and Felix whilst Jon and Jess went to a couple of Primary School Open Days – It’s hard to believe, but Oscar will start primary school next year.
The last Saturday in September, glorious weather and the annual Fairford, Faringdon, Filkins and Burford Ploughing Match. We attended last year’s event and so enjoyed ourselves we decided to go again this year. The match is held at different farms each year and this year was at Friar’s Court Clanfield. There were many entries for all sorts of tractors, horses and different ploughs and it was amazing to look across the fields at all the
different sections.
There were 17 sets of horses and they and the ploughmen looked spectacular.
After each furrow was cut the ploughman would clean his plough before getting the horses to turn around and set off again. it was a slow business and just demonstrated how much more efficient we are today even if it is less wonderful to look at!
We thoroughly enjoyed walking around the very large site looking at the various old machines including the belt powered threshing machine with steam engine providing the belt power.
We also liked the world war two tractor complete with scythe and a land girl driver. Within the arena there were various activities including a gun dog display, and a tug of war between a 1950′s tractor and the children. It was quite a sight watching the response to the request for children to help – they appeared from all around the arena in vast numbers from those who could just about walk to teenagers!
It was a great day out!
Mid-way through September we headed to France and the walled town of Montreuil-Sur-Mer for five nights. 
We managed to get an early ferry and after a picnic lunch en route from Calais, we arrived in Montreuil around 2 pm. We decided to walk the ramparts twice which took 70 minutes and justified our stop at Les Hauts du Montreuil for a Kir Royal for Annie and a glass of wine for Gerry. Walking the ramparts at the end of the afternoon and enjoying a drink before returning to the hotel was a ritual!
In the evening we ate at Gerry’s favourite Restaurant – Le Darnetal. We were not disappointed and enjoyed wonderful food and wines.
The next morning we awoke to brilliant weather which stayed with us for our whole stay.
We spent the mornings on each of the next three days walking in the local area. We had done some of the walks before and thoroughly enjoyed the tranquillity, the scenery and a very beautiful church at Beaumerie Saint Martin.
Each day we covered a total of about 8 miles and justified our wonderful lunches at Berck-Plage.
When we visited Montreuil earlier in the year, the weather was pretty foul and we found a restaurant on the front at Berck-Plage that was not only open but provided us with a really pleasant meal. We therefore had no hesitation in returning and were not disappointed.
Berck-Plage was quite busy although the beach was deserted apart from some land yachters and a few people walking. The picture below shows some wonderful beach huts and if you look carefully you can see one seagull and also some people right at the water’s edge.
The morning of our final full day was spent in the town of Hesdin . There was a large market filling several streets. We certainly enjoyed walking around – the sight of the fruit and veg and the smells from the food stalls were delightful! -the other stalls were also interesting to meander around.
We decided to have lunch in a restaurant called L’Ecurie. I mention it because if you ever want to eat in Hesdin it is well worth a visit. The food (especially the vegetables), ambience and wine were outstanding.
We returned to Montreuil and enjoyed our customary walk around the ramparts.
Unfortunately, we had to return home the next morning. Despite it being Friday we had a great journey back including an earlier ferry than expected and a relatively free run around the M25. What a brilliant few days.
As the school holidays ended and places would be less crowded, we decided to visit North Wales for a few days.
As usual we based ourselves 
at the White Lion Royal Hotel in Bala. The weather was pleasant as we arrived and so we set out on our usual walk along the banks of the River Tryweryn to its junction with the River Dee and then down along the northern edge of Bala Lake. We did this walk every evening of our four night stay and, on one night, were lucky enough to spot 2 herons on the opposite bank of the Tryweryn and then the next night one heron on the bank of the Dee.
The first full day we spent travelling around Anglesey including a visit to Beaumaris Castle and the coastal town of Moelfre. 
The second day was a busy day but one we enjoyed immensely. We travelled on the Talyllyn Railway from Tywyn Wharf to the other end of the line at Nant Gwernol. The engine and carriages were spotlessly clean and pristine despite it being near the end of the season. Gerry had not realised that the Talyllyn Railway was the inspiration for Rev Awdry’s Thomas the Tank Engine and other books – he worked as a volunteer on the railway in the 1950s. The museum at Tywyn Wharf Station is well worth a visit and occupied us for some time. We then drove to Morfa Mawddach, a railway station on the southern side of the River Mawddach and repeated the walk we had done on our last visit to North Wales. We walked across the bridge to Barmouth and wandered around the town before returning. As usual we encountered trains! The photo shows a south bound train that had just left Barmouth.
Our final full day was spent visiting Bodnant Gardens. The gardens were splendid and we thoroughly enjoyed a lovely 2 hours spent walking around the perimeter of the Gardens and the terraces.
We decided not to climb Snowdon! but instead drove down the beautiful LLanberis Pass and on to Beddgelert. We walked south along the banks of the River Glaslyn before crossing a bridge over the river (beside the Welsh Highland Railway Bridge) and returning along the other bank to Bedgellert. It was only as we got back to the town that we saw a map which showed several slightly longer circular walks based on the River. After our usual river and lake walk at Bala we ended our visit with yet another brilliant meal at Bala Spice – a wonderful curry house that we rate as one of our two favourites!
Bala Lake in the late afternoon sun is quite a sight.
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The weather had been very kind to us during our stay and proves once again that in good weather the scenery in North Wales is absolutely beautiful.
We shall return!
Over the weekend of 18 August we enjoyed a visit from all our UK based children and grandchildren with only one exception. Jon was unable to join us as he had a gig in Belgium. Martin, Louise and Archie stayed from the Thursday night to Sunday, James, Hannah, Rosie and Ptolemy stayed from Saturday until Monday. The others: Jenny, Mark, Bethany, Callum, Elsie, Jess, Oscar, Felix, Lucy, James and Emma visited on the Saturday. We had a brilliant time with Annie providing amazing food for everyone.
The three youngest Emma, Felix and Archie got along well as did all the others. Unfortunately, Archie was asleep when we manged to get the other grandchildren to sit still. However, a photo shows him at home a couple of days earlier.
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A rare opportunity for the family to get together. Thanks to everyone for making the effort to visit and for turning the weekend into a memory we will treasure.
Annie and Gerry
went to Cote Brasserie in Cirencester for lunch on their 22nd wedding anniversary. The manageress picked up on a comment Annie made to Gerry about it being our anniversary. She then proceeded to make our meal quite special with Kir-Royales to start and a lovely dessert for us to share. Not only was it gorgeous to look at but it tasted delicious as well.
A lovely lunch.
