After Hugh and I left Alexander and Steph following his graduation, we stopped over in Derbyshire with the intention of visiting Bolsover Castle. Why? Because some friends told us there was porn on the walls!

There was - sort of. The master of the house (Sir William Cavendish), had two little retiring rooms for contemplation. It is easy to work out what he was contemplating in one of them!

The castle keep still stands and has been restored to what it would have looked like hundreds of years ago. The great halls and dining rooms are ruins now. The view from the walls is magnificent.

( Bolsover Castle )

Alexander's Graduation took place on the 26th November2013.

( Photos. )

Crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner probably sounds very indulgent, but once you're on board everything except alcohol is free and our crossing included FREE Transatlantic flights. Overall, flying to America, spending another eight nights in hotels and eating out all day, everyday, would have cost us just as much as returning by sea. It's also possibly the best way to relax - ever!


( Queen Mary 2 )

Our next stop was Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where we met up with Leanne and Matt.

( A bookshop, the steelworks, fancy cars, a ghost walk! )

At one minute to four on the 11th of July, I received a phone call at my desk in the office.

If you can be at reception in two minutes, you can have a tour of the new building. Don't bring anything, no phone, no camera, no jacket or you won't get in.

I dropped everything and ran to the lift.

Five minutes later I was dressed in heavy boots, gloves, a high viz jacket and a hard hat and was on a tour of the building that will be our new head office.

We travelled up in the goods hoist (think metal cage!) and started on the 45th floor which is basically just concrete. No glass, no walls, just concrete floor and ceiling and a stunning view over London.

( Clickie! )

The temperature rose overnight, and so did the canal and the river.

To be honest, sharing the pictures is the easiest way to describe what we saw.

This is the overflow from the canal. It's usually a trickle of water and a sweet little waterfall.



( More )

Just for the record.

We start with Mum's birthday breakfast, moving swiftly on to Afternoon Tea in Claridge's, and then the surprise party where Robert did a wonderful job with the catering.

Happy Birthday to Hugh! We had birthday cake at lunch time as we are going out for dinner tonight.



And I managed to find time to ice the Christmas Cake.