This is John and Adam on the top deck of the ferry returning from Calais. The wind was so strong they could barely walk into it and the waves were hitting the deck below this one! The moon is in the background, although it was not yet dark. The delay was more than 3 hours! All in all a pretty wild holiday weather wise! But it was a lot of fun. Looking forward to our next crossing some day soon!

Windy beach at Le Touquet

The girls were nearly blown off the beach at Le Touquet. This is before the rain started on our 'one night away in France' holiday.

People carrier

The Renault Clio has gone and has been replaced with a people carrier (like the one shown here). Ours is silver and it is, for car fans, a Toyota Corolla Verso! We are a one car family now with room for 7 people. John and I went to pick it up on Saturday then collected the girls from their Guides camp in it. They and Adam love it and despite its size compared to the Clio, so do I! It will have to work hard for us as we have already been to France in it and this weekend, head off for THE NORTH....In the meantime, John is taking it away over night to see some friends of his and to have a little 'me' time.

Wednesday ladies

Recently a postcard arrived from Kurita san, who has been in France. She mentioned that the Wednesday ladies sometimes read the blog. Thank you, I was delighted to hear that.
It means that I cannot be lazy and must always think of something interesting to tell you!
All the best to everyone, I have many fond memories of you all.

WS2008

http://www.ws2008.org.uk/

The girls are getting ready for this big event, held once every four years, like the Olympics. They will be gone from Saturday to Saturday and parents, once we have said our goodbyes, are not allowed on site.
There are piles of clothes, naming pens, sleeping bags and mats all over the living room and as I will be at work on Saturday when they leave, it will be up to John to oversee the departure and the final flurries of forgotten items!!!
They are both very excited.
When they get home, they will both be very tired and probably very dirty!

Continental weekend

Ushio took the girls to Belgium on Saturday morning to catch up with old friends and, he said, to help them realise how close we are to Europe. He has hopes that they will want to learn more languages. I agree. Why not?

I spent the day working on a translation, slow work as I feel rusty. John had an unusually quiet day, which did him good.

It was hot and Adam was having trouble with his dreadlocks. Too bulky and not evenly spaced. I offered to 'trim' some off, under his supervision, and he gave the thumbs up. By the time we had finished it looked as if we had fleeced a sheep and he was a different man! Some regrets of course, but at least he can start again and control the growth this time.

David came down and we had a rather adult barbeque, just four of us.

Sunday morning up at dawn to drive to Dover. We caught the ferry to Calais and then went on to Le Touquet, recommended by my colleague, Gill. Great choice. It has a trendy feel to it, is on the beach ( miles of it) lovely buildings and lots to do. http://www.informationfrance.com/disp_town.php?town_id=128

We had a birthday lunch there for David, the men having Moules et frits and I had a baguette. I also had, later from the patisserie, a superb strawberry tart.... worth that wait.

On the way home we bought some wine and beer and were back in EG by about 8pm. We now plan two nights there with the children over the summer. Will keep you posted.

Colette and the girls

Last week was wonderful in that Colette and her daughters came to stay for two nights. John, the dear (and WISE) man had drinks with friends in London one night and generally kept out of our way for the duration. Three years of face-to-face catching up to do while trying to fit as much into the two days as we could and quite a lot of Japanese made things noisy and busy....The girls simply picked up where they left off, with one big difference. They are all a lot more independent. Hannah cooked them pancakes for breakfast one morning and they all sat on the patio to eat. Not a mother in sight!

We caught up with Amy in Utsy on Skype and saw her cats Pumpkin and Radish in person, (well on the screen).

We shopped for chocolate, cider and other essentials. We also went to the rocks (see above) and that was so popular it was on the list for day two as well. On Thursday we went to the farmer's market (bit quiet) and Wickendens for a treat. The girls took some Japanese sweets in for the owner and he kindly gave out a few samples in return! http://www.history.uk.com/listings/listing.php?iD=18448

Then we headed off to Haskins to eat lunch and buy seeds. Colette is probably single handedly supplying all the growers of rhubarb in a certain archipelago with seeds.......A photo of the splendid gunnera (グンネラ) outside the shop (see above as well) has inspired her husband Masahiro to grow them in Japan too! After Haskins and pleas for 'the rocks' we left the girls at home and slipped off to Standen in all its summer glory. By tea time, colouring in and the imminent arrival of the girls' dad (my girls) from Japan got minds off rocks and onto other things.

Hannah Em and I picked Ushio up from EG station and took him to his B&B where he is almost a regular. Back home for some chilling, some girl talk and that wonderful feeling you get with friends.

Just wish they didn't live so far away.