Kenya

For those who don't yet know that Mum needs to be cannonised or given a knighthood (as it were) she has now truly surpassed herself. When life really all became too much for me earlier this year she announced that what we needed was a week in the sun, sans enfants and pretty much set out to ensure that we couldn't say no. So hats off, raise your glasses and three cheers for the absolutely best Mum in the world!

Michael and I got back just over a week ago from a week in the wonderful house in Diani where she has been going for a few years now. Right on the beach and with amazing weather we sunned ourselves, read loads, ate even more, snorkled, wandered along the beach and generally speaking had some real R&R

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A different seat for each hour of the day - and that's only half of the terrace!

Meanwhile back on the farm, Stan got a feverish bug, Mum looked after them all and as if that wasn't enough of a challenge painted a wall in our dining room which has been unfinished for over 2 years, painted the bathroom ceiling and cleaned all the windows (plus much more). Brian when he arrived set to in the garden, replacing fence panels and sweeping up all the winter debris - there's more I am sure, but suffice to say that when we arrived home in the dark we could see that a transformation had taken place - it was like Ground Force without the irritating presenters and obligatory water feature.