September already? How did that happen? I guess it was something to do with the busy summer we had – it’s definitely up there as one of our best. The combination of our holiday in paradise, the success of the French exchange, weekends in Norfolk and at Carfest, along with plenty of day trips, relaxing time at home and catching up with lots of friends, has made this summer so special, and one that we will remember for a long time.

Here are some of the highlights of the final week of the holiday:

1. We spent last weekend, as we have done for the past four years, at Chris Evans’ CarFest South festival. If you don’t know about this, it is a fabulous, family-friendly festival based around food, cars and music, with all proceeds going to Children in Need. It is held in the beautiful Hampshire countryside, at Jody Scheckter’s Laverstoke Park Farm, and we always have the most amazing time – so the pressure is always on D to try to buy the tickets for the next one as soon as they go on sale, as it generally sells out within 15 minutes! We had as great a time as ever this year, so there’s no let up for him!

2. We have tried various accommodation experiences during our four visits to CarFest. The first year we camped, the second we glamped, and last year and also this, we stayed in a nearby hotel. This is definitely my preferred option! This year, we stayed in a hotel in Basingstoke, which fitted the bill perfectly – it was an easy 20 minute drive from the festival site, was clean and comfortable, and had extremely friendly staff – all good!

3. As I said, one of the main aspects of the festival is the food. There is a Best of British marquee, which contains lots of stalls selling homemade produce, and has different demonstrations going on, whilst a lot of the site is taken up with stalls selling all sorts of food to keep you going throughout the weekend. You can get anything from pie and chips to curries, from burritos to churros, from Thai food to paella, etc., etc. – the choice is huge. My selections this year were a duck wrap on Friday, followed by pie and chips on Saturday, then roast chicken and potatoes on the final night. And we may have sampled a cheeky bag of gourmet popcorn at some point!

4. As well as the food, there are obviously drinks, and our favourite this year, making an appearance for the first time, was the Fever Tree Gin and Tonic stall. It did prove so popular that it constantly had a long queue (I did feel a little sorry for the Pimms stall next door, which was virtually empty for the whole weekend!), but it was worth queuing up for! My favourite drink was rhubarb gin with Fever Tree ginger beer – absolutely delicious.

5. The music was great again this year. Obviously we know some of the bands/artists better than others, but amongst our favourites this year were Sophie Ellis Bextor, The Feeling, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, Bellowhead, and of course, the final two hours were absolutely amazing, with Take That, followed by a performance by Lord of the Dance, ending with a huge firework display. Just brilliant!

6. The final aspect of the festival, which is clear from the name, is the cars. There are car displays all around the site, ranging from stalls from manufacturers to old vehicles in the Vintage Village area, and then with some incredible cars to see both in the paddock and on the hill climb – classic racing cars, stunt cars, Chris Evans’ Dirty Dozen, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, etc. I’m not overly interested in cars as a rule, but I love to see them here, especially in action on the hill climb.

7. One of the things that makes such a huge amount of difference to a weekend like this is the weather, and we were incredibly lucky. There was some rain for an hour or so on the Saturday evening, but we had fortunately positioned ourselves under a shelter, so were fine and dandy, and then there was a brief shower on the Sunday evening, but, by the time we had got our coats and waterproof trousers on, it had stopped! It could have been very different, both during the day and the evenings, and we were very aware of this as it rained all the way home on Monday!

8. We were lucky enough to be able to fit in one more swimming trip on Tuesday, amongst the chores of collecting new glasses for B, having his back-to-school haircut and packing, which was really nice. We took one of G’s friends and her sister, and they all had fun together.

9. Wednesday was the day we had been dreading for a while – taking B to his new school, where he is now boarding. However, the day went very smoothly and quickly, and there were no protracted, emotional goodbyes! B being B, he said goodbye with plenty of hugs, then just ran back into the building, so we didn’t have the time or opportunity to  get upset, which was a really good thing. We could have stood there hugging and crying, but it would have made us all feel so much worse, so the way it went was probably perfect. It would be good if he communicated with us to let us know how he’s getting on though!

10. So now it’s back to the routine of a new school year – obviously it’s a little different with B being away, but G was back at school on Thursday too, so it was a return to early mornings, school, work, back to walk the dogs before the afternoon school run, and straight back to piano lessons. Even though we have had an amazing summer, I do always quite like getting back to normal and having our routines, so it’s no bad thing.

So G and I have my niece’s hen party to look forward to this weekend, which should be lovely. I hope that you all have a great couple of days.

Wow – it’s Friday again already – that means it’s six weeks since the children finished school for the summer holidays and only one and a half until they’re back – it’s going far too quickly. With this in mind, we are definitely trying to make the most of our time together, so here are the highlights from the past week:

1. One that I forgot to mention from last week was the beautiful sunset that D and I enjoyed whilst we were in Norfolk. We sat in the back garden, overlooking the dense cornfield, glass of wine in hand, just watching the sun set. It actually went down pretty quickly – not as dramatically as a Caribbean sunset, but quicker than we expected nonetheless – and it was absolutely stunning. We are going again this weekend, so I’m hoping that we can repeat the experience.

2. We had a great family swimming trip on Saturday, with the complete luxury of having the pool to ourselves for most of the time. It just happened to be lunchtime when we had finished so we decided to eat in the restaurant there too – I opted for the burger which went down very well!

3. We enjoyed cooking together on Sunday, making pork with apples and tarragon. It was absolutely delicious – and all the better for having all made it together.

4. The children and I had a fun trip to Markeaton Park in Derby on Monday, with a jaunt on a pedalo followed by ice creams. It is so long since I’ve been on a pedalo that I’d quite forgotten the hard work involved, but it was great fun and involved lots of laughter – especially when B, who was steering, thought that it was hilarious to steer me into the overhanging trees!

5. We are very lucky, being close to Derby, that we have so many lovely parks around, so on Tuesday we tried out a different one – Darley Park. This had been recommended to us a couple of weeks ago and it is absolutely lovely. It is a large, popular but peaceful park, with the River Derwent flowing through, providing a natural path to follow. So we had a lovely walk with the dogs, followed by yet more ice creams, of course.

6. The blackberries out on the field behind our house have made me very happy this week! Quite a lot of them are now ripe and are truly delicious – and the good thing is that there are still plenty which are no where near ready to eat, so they should keep us going for a few weeks!

7. We had a lovely trip to Carsington Water on Wednesday, which was special for two reasons. First, I had (ridiculously!) never been before – the children have both been with school – and it is a great place to visit. There are plenty of places to walk, the scenery is beautiful, there are playgounds, etc. etc. Secondly, however, and more importantly, we met my school friend, Sara, there, as she was staying nearby with her family. I haven’t seen her in over a year, and she hadn’t met G and B before, so it was really lovely to have a walk, picnic and catch up with her – and her gorgeous youngest daughter and her dog, of course! It was a great few hours – and we were even lucky enough to just get home before the rain began.

8. G and I had a “girls night” on Wednesday, which was so nice – and very relaxing! It involved spending the evening in her room, with her scented candles smelling amazing, watching re-runs of her favourite TV shows on her computer.

9. As we’ve had so many trips and days out this holiday, we decided to stay in on Thursday and had an afternoon of board games – with special drinks and snacks, of course! I’m so pleased that both children still enjoy afternoons like this.

10. One more positive thing this week is that B seems to be getting quite excited about his new school. As it is now only 12 days until he goes, this is really good news! He has been full of questions and curiosity about what it will be like, all in a very positive way, which is great, as it is going to be such a huge change for us all.

So, as I said, we have a lovely family weekend in Norfolk planned, which will involve spending plenty of time on beaches, walking, collecting samphire – all the usual. I’m just hoping that the weather forecast is right!

Well, I’m not sure where the past nine days, since our French exchange children arrived, have gone. As we said goodbye to them yesterday, it was very strange to think that the time had passed so rapidly, but they seemed to have been a part of our family for a long time, which was lovely.

Here are the highlights of the past week anyway:

1. The tie dye activity we did one evening with the four children. This was incredibly messy, with the dye getting literally everywhere as they dyed t-shirts, pillow cases and canvas bags, but it was also such fun. They all seemed to enjoy it and were pleased with their efforts, and it was great to see them all wearing their t-shirts together the next day (and all the mess was very easily wiped up!).

2. We had a lovely few days in Norfolk, which started off with a great trip to Brancaster beach on our first afternoon. The puppies had a good swim in the sea, and we then walked along to see if the seals were there, and they certainly were – in force! We couldn’t go as close as normal, as they are currently breeding there and have babies, but we could get close enough to see them all basking on the sand very clearly – an amazing sight, as always.

3. It wasn’t just the dogs in the sea the next day, as the weather was glorious, so all the children went in for a proper swim. I’m not sure that you would have got me in there, but they seemed to love it and have lots of fun.

4. We had a lovely walk around the lake at Holkham Hall on Sunday, which we always love to do. The weather was beautiful, so everywhere looked stunning.

5. We had another fun day on Monday when I took all the children swimming and then bowling. The bowling was in a very “quaint” establishment, but it did the job and kept the children entertained.

6. A trip to Sandringham. Shockingly, we have only visited Sandringham once, and that was just for a walk, so we haven’t ventured into the house before, but I thought that this would be a good place to take our French visitors. We were very lucky in that, when we went in and I asked for a French translation of the guidebook, the lady serving asked if I’d like her to talk to the exchange children, to tell them about the rooms we would visit, as she was the French-speaking guide. What luck! She gave them a good overview of what to look out for, which was great – I understood everything that she was saying but there’s no way that I could have explained it all myself, so it was a very successful trip.

7. We did one of our favourite walks on Wednesday, from Holkham along to the beach, past the brightly-coloured beach huts, to Wells-Next-The-Sea and then back through the pine woods. Again the weather was beautiful, so it was so lovely.

8. It was nice to get home again on Wednesday evening to see D. He’d been with us until (very early!) Tuesday morning, but it was still good for us all to be back together – and to celebrate with a mojito!

9. Watching the meteor shower. We all had a quick trip outside at about 10.30pm to see what we could spot, and were lucky enough to see at least four shooting stars each. The children chose to lie on the trampoline for the best vantage point, and we learnt that it is a French custom to make a wish whenever you see one.

10. The French exchange has gone so well – better than we even hoped. Not knowing the children or the family, we didn’t know if they would get on well or not, or if they’d enjoy doing similar things, etc., but they all got on famously together. The house has been absolutely full of fun and laughter for the past week, so they are now all looking forward to when G and B make their visit next year. They are such lovely children – so polite and helpful and fun-loving, that it has been a complete joy to have them stay with us – and a great excuse for lots of fun trips out!

So we are now looking forward to a nice quiet, family weekend. I would guess that a trip to the gym/swimming pool and a picnic/walk will feature, but that is as far as the planning has got. Oh, and giving my brain a rest from all the translation I have done in the past nine days!

Wow – after a nice quiet weekend, it’s turned out to be a pretty busy week – but all in a good way! And we can certainly say that we are enjoying the summer holidays! Here are some of the highlights from the past seven days:

1. Possibly the best part of our weekend was our trip to Elvaston Castle Country Park on Sunday. It’s quite ridiculous that I have only visited this once, and that was only for a food fayre over a year ago, but it appeared in a list of local woodland that I researched after G asked if we could go to a wood, so off we went. We started the trip off with a lovely picnic (of course – I absolutely love picnics!) of sandwiches, watermelon and freshly baked peanut butter and chocolate chunk cookies, which we then followed by a walk around two separate parts of the park. It really is a lovely place to spend some time, with plenty of space to walk the dogs, interesting areas for the children to explore and nice scenery along the way – a very successful trip.

2. Our wedding anniversary, which D and I celebrated on Monday. It’s very difficult to believe that it’s 19 years since that amazing day, but I still feel so blessed that we found each other so early in life, at the ages of 17 and 18 respectively, and that we got married as soon as we could after university. We had a very special evening, exchanging our presents, having a lovely meal, and making and drinking our new favourite drink of mojitos. We are definitely on the same wavelength – I had bought the ingredients for making them, whilst D had bought me a mojito-making kit as part of my present, and we then both bought the same cheese to eat after our meal – what a team!

3. Getting my work done. It is always a challenge during the school holidays to fit in the work that I have to do around spending time and days out with the children, but I have had two good sessions this week, which has allowed me to catch up fully after our holiday.

4. One of our great discoveries for a summer holiday activity this week has been swimming. We went along to the local pool to begin with, but found that it was full, and they couldn’t guarantee that we would get in at all during the session, so we then went on to the gym where we are members but very rarely go, and certainly not to swim – for some unknown reason! However, it was fabulous – G and B went in the water, whilst I stayed on the poolside, on a lounger, reading my book and watching them. It really felt like we were still on holiday, which is definitely a feeling that I wish to prolong, so there will be plenty more visits!

5. Tuesday saw the arrival of our two French exchange children, who are the same ages as G and B, and who are with us for nine days. We were all a little apprehensive about meeting them and having them to stay, as we had never met them, and had no clue as to their English proficiency, but they are absolutely lovely. They are great children, get on well with G and B, and are trying hard with their English – a real success, three days in!

6. Out trip to West Midlands Safari Park. I could say that this brought back many memories, as this is the safari park that I used to visit as a child when I lived in Worcester, but I have to say that it wasn’t at all familiar. However, it was a great day out, and a good ice breaker for the children and their French counterparts. It took a while to get there because of traffic and it was busy inside the park, but it was great to see the variety of animals up so close – rhinos, deer, antelopes, two types of tiger and lion, giraffes, wild dogs, lions, zebras, camels, etc. We will definitely be using our return free ticket, so that D can come too.

7. Successful swimming and shopping trips on Thursday for all the children. They are getting on very well together, and it’s great to see them managing to communicate and have fun.

8. Simple pleasures for the children, including playing hide and seek in a fantastic area of Elvaston Country Park (which we visited again on Thursday!) which was just made for such a game. It’s so nice to see 14 and 12 year olds still loving the challenge of the game, aided by walkie talkies, and surpassing any language barriers along the way.

9. The French boy who is with us made my day yesterday when he told me that my French is very good. I did spend 9 months living in France, but that was 20 years ago and I have not really used it since, so I didn’t have much confidence in it, but it was very nice of him to say so (and to say that it was the truth!). To be honest, I have really enjoyed speaking it again, and it has really helped this week, as neither G and B’s French nor our guests’ English can cope with everything just yet.

10. The prospect of a few days in Norfolk – we haven’t been for over three months, which is crazy, so we are really looking forward to it, and to being able to introduce the French children to the amazing beaches, the beautiful countryside, and one of the Queen’s residences along the way!

I hope that you all have a great weekend!

Well, we are now back home after a wonderful two weeks in Grenada. I wasn’t looking forward to the holiday being over and coming home, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected – but I’m probably still going to find most of my Happy Friday list from our Caribbean experience!

1. The trip we had around the island last Friday was lovely. Our first stop was Fort Frederick, a backward-facing fort dating from 1791, which afforded amazing views of the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the inland rainforest areas. From there, we then went on to Mount Carmel waterfall – it only required a short hike to reach the cascade and it was stunning.

2. Our final destination on our trip was to one of our favourite haunts on the island – one we have visited each time we have holidayed in Grenada, La Sagesse bay, where we had our customary burger and beer lunch – and admired the beautiful view.

3. One of the best parts of the trip was eating the mangoes, picked fresh from the tree by Glenn, our driver, as we walked back from the waterfall – we just peeled the skin off and ate them like apples. By the time we reached the car, our hands and chins were absolutely dripping in mango juice, but they were honestly the tastiest, juiciest fruits we have ever eaten, and to do so in such an amazing setting was just incredible.

4. A band played in the hotel on Saturday night, so we again had a great dance in the lounge and the courtyard – another lovely evening.

5. On Sunday, we had our customary walk along the beach to the Aquarium bar for our live music and mojito fix – as great as ever.

6. Following this, we then went back to sit by the pool at our hotel, which overlooks the Caribbean Sea and from where you can watch the amazing sunsets. As this was out last night, we really made the most of it and sat there until it had gone completely dark – a wonderful family moment.

7. After all of this and the long journey back it was actually okay to arrive home, but it was made more palatable by the lovely meal that was waiting for us, prepared by Debra, who had been looking after the dogs and the house, and by the warm welcome from the dogs – we had missed them, so it was so good to see them again.

8. Sleeping in our own beds again – that’s one thing that you can’t beat after a holiday!

9. G and B enjoyed sleeping in their own beds again so much that they stayed in them for most of the next morning, so that by the time they emerged, I had had chance to do lots of washing and ironing, had weeded the garden, mown the lawn and walked the dogs – a very productive morning.

10. My really good university friend, Helen, visited on Thursday, and it was so good to see her. As she heads off to start a new adventure in Hong Kong on Monday, we don’t know when we will next see each other at the moment, so it was great to be able to catch up for a few hours over lunch together, so I’m very grateful that she stopped by – and good luck, Helen!

We have a quiet weekend ahead, which I’m more than happy about, as we prepare to welcome our two French exchange children next week, who will then be with us for nine days, so we have lots of fun days out planned.

I hope that you have a great weekend, whatever you are doing.

Apologies for this week’s Happy Friday post being a little later than usual, but there were island-wide connection problems yesterday, which meant that there was no internet connection or working mobile phone network. This was quite a strange feeling, as it really did feel that we were on a small island completely cut off from the rest of the world – not an altogether unpleasant experience for a few hours!

Anyway, of course, this week’s list has been just as easy to compile as last’s, due to the fact that we have been enjoying our second week in paradise, so here’s a brief round-up:

1. Last Friday’s fishing trip – I have to admit that, an hour or so into this trip, I wasn’t loving it and would not have imagined it featuring in this week’s list, as I was feeling pretty seasick, as was G and poor B was really quite ill. However, once we returned to slightly calmer waters, the second half of the outing was much more fun. We obviously had the “big one that got away” story, but then, just five minutes before returning to port, D managed to pull in a barracuda, which was pretty exciting. We could have fetched it back to the hotel, where they would have cooked it for us, but G took pity on it, so it went back in the sea. Apart from the fishing though, it was a great experience to see more of the island from the water, as we went all along the west coast before returning back to the very pretty Port Louis.

2. Saturday night now features as one of our best nights ever! We had dinner in the pool restaurant, which we have been doing three nights a week (as the hotel is pretty quiet, everyone can fit in the smaller pool restaurant, rather than the usual larger one in the main hotel building, and we love it out there – the lighting is really pretty, as it’s completely dark by 7pm, the setting by the lovely pool is beautiful, it is cooler, with the sea breeze gently blowing in and it is so close that you can hear the sound of the Caribbean waves constantly – there’s no better sound. However, on Saturday, they also had a fantastic steel band playing – and what a mix of music they played, from popular Caribbean music, to Queen and The  Beatles, modern pop to musical theatre tunes – but it was (bizarrely!) “When the Saints Go Marching In” that got everyone on their feet and dancing around the pool. Just wonderful food, location, music and atmosphere – perfection!

3. On Sunday afternoon, we did one of our favourite things and walked along the beach to The Aquarium bar. This is a very popular place to go for both locals and holidaymakers (although it was much quieter than usual this time), with a bar directly on the beach (with the amazing view below), so that the children can play in the sea while we sit and relax, and listen to the live band playing. The atmosphere was good and the mojitos delicious!

4. One of my favourite times of day here is sunset, which happens at about 6.30pm, and we have experienced some beautiful ones this week. One that stands out was when D and I had a sunset walk along the beach, walking through the edge of the sea, chatting about nothing in particular, stopping to take some photos and collect a couple of shells which will now forever remind me of that moment – bliss.

5. Of course, if you have seen my Facebook photos, you will know about the amazing luck we have had this week being able to see and handle baby turtles. The ground staff here at the hotel had collected about 50 just-hatched baby turtles, as they had started to make their way down to the sea, but, as this is their most vulnerable moment, as they are usually eaten by birds on their journey, they had picked them up and put them in a sea-water pool. This meant that they were there for us to watch, photograph and hold for a day, before we then had the amazing opportunity of releasing them into the sea at sunset. They really were the sweetest creatures, and it was so lovely to send them on their way, watching how they streamlined their bodies to cope with the waves, then seeing their little heads bobbing out of the water as they made their way out – a truly amazing experience, and the highlight of G’s holiday by far.

6. B and I have spent a lot of time in the pool this week playing water volleyball, and it’s been great fun. We are pretty evenly matched, so it works well, but he always just seems to beat me!

7. This week has also seen us playing lots of family games, either by the pool or in the lounge area, which we have all loved – Uno continues to be a favourite, along with Continuo and our new shorter version on Scrabble, which is far more fun than the original, in our opinion!

8. I have also spent a lot of time reading by the pool, as usual, this week, which has been lovely. Just having the time to do this, without feeling guilty that I should be doing something else, is a major factor in why we come.

9. D and I have enjoyed trying some new cocktails this week, as we discovered that the pool bar does a different speciality cocktail every day, so we have sampled some delicious ones that we have never before heard of. My favourite was the mocktail we had a couple of days ago – I just need to remember what was in it now!

10. The last one for this week is the great service we had from Sunsations, the company through which we booked both the fishing trip and our half day island trip. We were supposed to go on our trip on Wednesday, but G wasn’t at all well, so I had to call them to change it just 30 minutes before we were due to be picked up. However, they happily changed it for us so that we can go today, Friday, so we are really looking forward to that. We were very grateful that there was no issue with doing this, and we know then we can go today with a well G.

We are now looking forward to our final weekend here before returning to the real world next week. I am at the stage where it seems to have gone far too quickly now, and want to go back in time two weeks, and have the whole experience all over again. This really is our idea of paradise, in so many ways, and I don’t think that we will ever tire of being here.

P.S. For those of you doing “blog bingo” with my Happy Friday post, I wish you all the best this week!

Well, I’m guessing that this is going to be one of the easiest Happy Friday lists to compose, considering that we have spent the past three days in paradise, on the beautiful island of Grenada in the Caribbean. This is our fourth visit to the island – once before we had G and B, in 1999, and then three trips in the past four years.  It seems to be relatively little-known in the UK, in comparison with many of the other Caribbean islands, and is often confused, when we say where we are going on holiday, with Granada in Spain. It is also known as the “Island of Spice” because of the production of nutmeg and mace, of which it is one of the world’s largest exporters, and this, along with tourism, is its main trade.

It is a small island, full of lovely, friendly people, and our hotel is no exception – the staff are so attentive, which adds to the experience enormously. Anyway, we are three days into our stay here, so here are some of the highlights so far:

1. The first great thing happened before we left home, with the arrival of Debra, who is staying in our house and looking after the three dogs whilst we are away. She is so lovely, and we couldn’t feel happier leaving them in her care. She is also great at putting photos of them on Facebook, so we can keep track of what they are up to.

2. The Virgin Atlantic experience! We have flown Virgin on each of our visits here, but this year, the flight seemed even better than previously. Due to the fact that we fly out quite early in the morning, we always travel down to Gatwick the afternoon before and go straight to Twilight Check-In, which is such a great idea – it means that we check-in and our luggage is taken away immediately, when there are never any queues whatsoever, so that, the next morning, we just arrive at the airport with our hand luggage and go straight to security. We then had plenty of time for a lovely breakfast, with mimosa cocktails for me and D, before boarding. The flight itself was then great – the additional elements this year were a bottle of water waiting for us on our seats and we then, later in the flight, got an extra drink. The entertainment was great – the film that I’d really hoped would be on (The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) was, so I was delighted by this, and there was plenty to keep us occupied all the way to the Caribbean.

3. The welcome we received as soon as we stepped out of the airport. A familiar taxi driver was waiting for us and welcomed us back to the island, and then drove us to the hotel (Grenadian by Rex Resorts)- a full five minute journey at the very most! We were then greeted so warmly by the hotel manager and reception staff, who welcomed us back with such enthusiasm (and with cool flannels and fruit punch!) – we had been looking forward to arriving for so long,  but this really did make it feel even better to be back.

4. Our accommodation in the hotel, having been upgraded to executive rooms. We knew that we would have more space this year anyway, as, for the first time, G and B have their own room, so we don’t have their two beds squashed into ours, but both of the rooms which we were allocated were much more spacious than we are used to, with a large bedroom, bathroom, living room area and extra large balconies. And a kettle – so that I can have my morning cups of tea!

5. The service we are receiving in the restaurants is absolutely fantastic. We have never had any complaints about the service previously, but there is a really noticeable difference in the standard this year. There are a lot of new staff, many of whom are very young, but the restaurant manager is the same and is clearly doing an amazing job of training them. They honestly can’t do enough for you: they introduce themselves at the start of the meal and explain the menu options; they keep you constantly topped up with ice cold water; crockery is cleared away as soon as it is finished with; they serve you drinks immediately and ask if you’d like more as soon as your glass is empty, etc. etc. This morning, G spilt some tea in her saucer and our waiter replaced it with a clean one straightaway, almost before we’d noticed she’d done it. Just fantastic!

6. Doing very little! We have been looking forward to having this time time to relax and recharge our batteries for a good few months, and that is exactly what we are doing. It’s so nice when the most difficult decision you have to make is what to order from the bar!

7. The food! Much as I enjoy cooking, it is such a treat to have a break from it and know that we are going to be presented with a range of delicious options three times a day. The breakfasts are possibly my favourite meal, with a range of cereals, two types of porridge, freshly cooked pancakes, French toast and omelettes, a selection of cooked options, often including local specialities, toast, pastries, fresh fruit, yogurt, and a selection of juices, tea, coffee, hot chocolate and speciality teas (yesterday’s cinnamon tea was particularly good). The lunches and dinners consist of soups, a range of fresh catch of the day, delicious meat dishes, rice dishes, vegetables and salads – we have honestly put on so much weight already – but are loving it.

8. The views! As you can see from the photos, the views are absolutely spectacular. I always wonder if Grenadians realise what an amazing part of the world they live in  or if, as is usually the case, you get so used to your surroundings that you begin to take it for granted. Even on our fourth visit, we continue to be blown away by the scenery.

9. Having time as a family to properly relax – not to be rushing around or getting stressed or anxious about things, but just lounging by the pool together, playing in the water, sharing lovely food, etc. – bliss.

10. The weather – obviously it is very hot here, about 30 degrees every day, but we also seem to get a short rain shower almost every day. They don’t last long, but really freshen everything up, clear the air, and are vital for the beautiful grounds that our hotel is in, with the gorgeous flowers, plants and trees.

Yep! It was quite easy to think of these things, and next week will probably be very similar, but we have got a fishing trip, a day out, and a trip to our favourite Caribbean bar, The Aquarium, to look forward to, so no doubt they will feature.

I hope that you have a great weekend, whatever you are doing.

Well, that’s it today – the end of the school year for G and B, and almost holiday time for us – thank goodness! But before we jet off on Monday, here are a few of the things which have made me smile this week:

1. The Rhubarb Elderflower Gin Coolers that we made last Friday night. I made the rhubarb syrup during the day, so that we just had to mix the other ingredients in the evening, and they really were fabulous! I absolutely love rhubarb in all its forms, and I’ve been drinking gallons of elderflower cordial this summer, so it really was the most perfect combination.

2. I went to Surrey on Saturday to spend some time with a really close friend who has recently returned from ten years of living on the continent – and we had such a lovely day! Obviously, the M25 “car park” meant that I arrived over an hour later than intended, but we then made the most of the rest of the day – by doing very little! It was just what we both needed – a day of catching up, wandering around Weybridge, finding a lovely riverside pub for a  much-needed drink, followed by an ice cream from a gorgeous Italian deli – a truly great day.

3. I do love to eat outdoors, and the children and I managed to do this on Sunday whilst D was out at work. It was gloriously sunny, and I had one of my favourite summer meals  – spinach, strawberry and blue cheese salad – followed by a bit of time out on the parkland behind our house. We really were so lucky, as it absolutely tipped down with rain about 15 minutes after we came in, but we were very glad that we’d made the most of it while it was warm and dry.

4. I have no idea how I have got to the age of 41 and not watched “The English Patient” but somehow this had happened. So, when my great friend, Hettie, mentioned this recently whilst we were watching Ralph Fiennes star in “Man and Superman”, we decided that this had to be remedied, so she came over on Monday evening for a movie night. It’s not often that we stop talking when we are together, but this film had us sitting in almost complete silence for over two and a half hours – it really is a beautiful film, stunning in so many ways, with a totally compelling storyline, breath-taking scenery and first class performances. A very lovely way to spend an evening.

5. Books! My friend, Emma, who I visited on Saturday, gave me four books that she had finished with when I saw her, then Hettie had very kindly bought me a book for our holiday, so I feel that I have lots of great reading matter to keep me going. I do love having good books to look forward to.

6. Finally planning a range of activities for when we have two French exchange children over for nine days in August. This has been making me feel a little stressed over the past few weeks, as we don’t know them and have no idea how competent they are in English, so I felt that I needed to plan a full itinerary of activities to keep us all occupied, so I’m very pleased that I now have this sorted – and the Tesco vouchers are on their way!

7. My to-do list this week has been pretty varied, with a combination of work, things to do to prepare for our dog/house sitter arriving, last minute things to buy for our holiday (travel sickness wristbands we felt were a must for our deep sea fishing trip!) – and almost everything is done, which is always a good feeling.

8. The email I received yesterday morning saying that our dog/house sitter had arrived in the UK (as she lives in France). We can’t wait for her to arrive on Sunday, then we can talk her through everything, hand over all that needs to be handed over – and then leave our gorgeous dogs in her capable hands for two weeks!

9. B has been away (again!) all week in Northumberland, presumably having a great time (he’s never a great one for communicating when he’s away from home!). The trip sounded amazing, with visits to York Minster, various Roman forts, rock-pooling at the beach, Bamburgh Castle, zip wire activities, Leeds Amouries Museum – not to mention the early morning daily runs! But we are really looking forward to having him home tonight.

10. My final one today is my fabulous husband, D. We have been together since meeting at school, and he really is perfect for me – he is so supportive, kind and hard-working (I honestly think that he may just sleep for the entire two weeks that we are away, as he’s been working so hard!). I just feel so lucky that we found each other when we did.

Only one more week of the summer term to go before the children are on holiday for seven weeks. In most ways, I can’t wait for them to finish, as we love our time together, lazy mornings, trips away, etc., but it does make keeping up with work quite tricky at times, which is the downside. But the reason we started the business was to give me the flexibility to be able to do the school run and be with them during the holidays, so for that I am truly grateful and appreciative, so I’m not moaning!

And in the spirit of not moaning, here’s a run down of the things that have made me happy this week:

1. Getting Georgie back from France after her six day trip. She’d had a fantastic time – and we’ve seen lots of photographic evidence of this – but it was great to have her home, even if they were late back so we had to collect her at 2.15am!

2. A great night out by the fire pit, with candles, tealights and fairy lights as well as the light of the fire to keep us out there until just past midnight!

3. A relaxing Saturday afternoon sitting out in the garden, listening to Caribbean soca music whilst reading and drinking elderflower cordial – bliss!

4. The cheese scones I made on Sunday – we all absolutely love them – I really must remember to make double the quantity next time.

5. An early morning walk with the dogs on Wednesday, to beat the midday heat – lots of other dog owners had the same idea so it was a very sociable time. Plus, on the way home,  I discovered a small raspberry bush right behind our garden fence with a handful of fat, juicy raspberries.

6. Lunch out with friends on Wednesday to a restaurant I haven’t visited before – but shall be returning to!

7. Seeing D eventually! We have been like ships that pass in the night this week, with him working very late and then being away, so it was nice to have him home last night, even if it was late by the time he got back.

8. I was later home than usual from work on Thursday but I made a delicious lunch of brie on toasted seeded onion bagel, which was just what the doctor ordered.

9. The fact that we have started taking our concoction of anti-histamine, vitamin B1 and garlic tablets  – our anti-insect bite combination – in preparation for our holiday. As this needs to be done two weeks before we leave, it is a definite sign that it is almost upon us!

10. The book that I have been reading this week has definitely made me smile on more than one occasion. It is The School Gate Survival Guide, by Kerry Fisher. I’ve loved brie for years but I’ve never come across the concept of “cutting the nose off the brie” – hilarious!

We have a pretty busy weekend ahead – I’m going down to Surrey to see a friend for the day on Saturday, which I’m very excited about, but then D is working all day Sunday. We have a crazy week ahead next week, as we try to fit three weeks of work into one, plus various other work and home related tasks – but this time next week, we should be all done and ready for our holiday!