This year I purposely chose to go overseas a bit earlier as I have missed the start of Spring in the last few years and it is one of my very favourite times of the year. It lifts my spirits to see the wisteria in full bloom and all the flowers doing their thing while the birds are in overdrive – finding mates and making nests and flitting here, there and everywhere on their quest! They have been particularly fascinated with my outside mirror which is attached to a little window box and they have been perching on the box and making sweet talk to their reflections – everything from magpies to tiny little wrens have been duped into thinking there is a fine looking bird taking interest in them! The wrens have taken it up a notch by targeting the side mirrors of our cars and also the shiny handles of our French doors! We’ve been forced to park our cars in the garage all day by a creature the size of a 50 cent piece!!! I do however love hearing their whittering in the hedges and their swift flitting around the veranda as they carry on their busy little lives…

Unfortunately the August winds decided to come in September this year meaning no sooner had the wisteria bloomed the wind arrived to blow them all away. A few more sheltered racemes (the name for the long flowers) have survived to tell the tale but the rest have been blown like purple confetti all around the property coming to rest in purple puddles in the corners. Blink and you may have missed the entire spectacle!

I had a quick 2 week trip back to the UK to celebrate my Mum’s 88th birthday and it was wonderful. We all converged on my sister’s house in Wales and enjoyed the perfect mix of family home time and getting out and about and exploring some of the beautiful Welsh countryside. Poor Mum had no chance with both daughters united in our desire for exploration and lunches in lovely locations and she was corralled into the car on most days and did thousands more steps than she was both used to or comfortable with but the sun was shining and we had places to see so she did it! It’s amazing what a girl can do with the promise of a nice lunch in the sunshine! We had a lovely day trip to the wonderfully named Mumbles where the sunny blue skies and clear sparkly water were more reminiscent of Europe than the UK and I LOVE how despite the not always reliable weather there are so many outdoor and rooftop eateries and bars here.

With over 600 miles of coastline we were spoilt for choice about where to visit and where to eat overlooking the water. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Penarth marina before walking across the barrage to Cardiff Bay for a coffee and a trip back on the ferry. Cardiff Bay is a lovely redeveloped dockland area which now houses the Welsh parliament, the Wales millennium Centre (their National Arts Centre) and Mermaid Quay housing lots of restaurants, bars and cafés and it was good to see so many people out and about enjoying all it has to offer.

We had booked a little B&B in Tenby for the weekend of Mum’s birthday and we set off on another gloriously sunny day for this quaint seaside town famous for its long sandy beaches and pastel coloured Victorian houses perched on the cliffs above the most charming harbour. We were staying in The Old Town (which literally dated back to Norman times) and within the 13th century parapet walk complete with arrow slits which made us just a hop, skip and jump from everything. The tiny alleys bisected streets crammed with gorgeous old houses, small unique shops and cafés, sometimes only 3 or 4 tables big, plying tourists with local seafood and cream teas. The church bells pealed as buskers entertained the passersby as they ate their ice-creams and enjoyed the late summer sunshine. It was delightful.

The next day we decided to visit Caldey Island, a peaceful haven about a 20 minute boat ride from Tenby which houses an Abbey of Cistercian monks known as Trappists. They live happily on the island and make an income from making chocolate and perfume. They have been here in some form or another for a thousand years and the whole island really does feel serene. Another big walking day for Mum but after an afternoon rest she was ready to head out again for her birthday dinner down on the beach. We hadn’t realised there were 4 beaches however, so of course it was a much longer walk than anticipated!! A cab home was very welcome. Brekky overlooking the transparent water of Camarthen Bay and a delicious lunch in Saundersfoot had us feeling very holidayish as we made our way back home to an evening of boardgames, cheese and wine!

My sister cooked up a fabulous roast beef and yorkshire pud Sunday dinner which we had with my Niece and Great Niece. Four generations of verbose women in one room so you can just imagine the volume and shriek factor! It was so lovely to be able to catch up with them especially as Amelia is no longer a child – she was definitely part of our girl gang this year!

Our last day took us back to Cardiff Bay for a delicious lunch at Côte Brasserie followed by a trip to the movies. One of those fancy arty farty ones with vintage couches and cocktails to watch the movie “It ends with Us” which was a good rendition of a book I loved. A stroll around the wharf in the sunshine and then home for the LAST SUPPER which I always dread, but we were determined not to be sad with many promises of returning within the year and gratefulness for modern technology keeping us in touch in real time etc. A teary farewell at the train station and then the 36 hour door to door journey home began….!!

It was a rather strange arrival home as I landed BACK at 6am and Tom was leaving at 3pm to fly TO London! We passed like ships in the night but managed a phone call from the airport after he booked himself and 72kgs of his life onto the plane to start his new chapter. We had managed to organise a family night together before I left to farewell him and I had even successfully fulfilled his request for Beef Wellington for his last supper! We will really miss Tommy as he has spent a fair bit of time with us this year but we are very excited for the opportunity that he has in London and I will happily add on some extra time to my UK annual visit to show him some of my favourite spots in England and explore the bits of Europe that the MOTH isn’t keen on doing!

Somehow we never seem to be the kind of family that requests tacos or a roast dinner for a special occasion and I ended up doing the Wellington on the Thursday night and backing it up with 100 layer lasagna on the Friday night for Sam’s birthday with 8 of his friends staying over in The Meadow! I’d never heard of this NY ‘cult’ dish but gave it a good crack and I must say it was delicious, all creamy softness inside and crusty yumminess on the outside as you slice and pan fry each serving of lasagna and serve it on a nice sauce loaded with parmesan. A do ahead dish with a bit of pizazz that was well received.

I had no sooner unpacked and thrown the washing on when I had to go and represent the family at the local elections where our friend Peter Wilkins had thrown his hat into the ring with some other like-minded Independent candidates. We had the T shirts and made a strong showing on the day and as people were very keen for a change we found our job relatively easy with everything from Green Bins to Wind Turbines to Potholes and Politics being discussed. Peter was the sports commentator for the ABC for many years and has a natural gift for public speaking and combined with his passion for the area I think he will do very well as they WON by quite a margin. Now the hard work begins, although not before a celebratory drink at the pub!

It’s time now to get stuck into the garden, there are new veggies to be planted, everything needs to be fed and pruned and tied up and cut back and dead headed so that is where you will find me over the next few weeks as we whip things in to shape after the winter! My holiday nails are already a thing of the past and as the mulberries are in full throttle I have permanently stained fingers as I pick bowl after bowl of them for the freezer to make fruit galettes later in the season. Happy Days!