We left Shropshire after a lovely al fresco breakfast, waving goodbye to Bob and Jude, and one of our neighbours who came to see us mooving off…

The day after we returned to Harwich, Clive’s pals Campbell and Angie came over for the rest of the Bank Holiday. Being the adventurers we are we caught the ferry over to Felixstowe beach and thought we’d walk into the town. Half way there Clive’s sandals completely disintegrated. (We didn’t laugh too much, well we may have…) Barefoot he wandered the streets looking for a shoe shop to get some replacements. You just can’t get the footwear these days!

The container ships are so impressive from the little ferry.

We had two more 50th Birthday parties this summer, one our lovely friend Beanie who had bought a whole cows leg to feed us all – don’t look if you’re vegetarian. Quite something!

Bean, looking good at his first half century!

Fergus came to stay for another fortnight and we took this selfie after a walk at Wrabness. What I love about living by the sea is the smell of the sea air, the uninterrupted views and the sounds of sea birds, evocative of holidays which is both therapeutic and relaxing.

I caught the train to Cambridge last week to meet the wonderful Sally Cunningham, who I haven’t seen for 17 years. We didn’t draw breath! It was succour for the soul. If only she didn’t live so far away (Australia! Goddammit!)

Check out the tired dog outside a particularly good coffee house…. arf arf!

I went to see my parents and their bank has closed the last branch in the village, which seems nuts as it is a particularly thriving tourist destination and has a considerable ageing population who do not go in for internet banking, apart from my dad who has determined to learn how to use it at the age of 89 – go dad! Instead of employing staff in the branch, they now pitch a mobile bank there, with three staff aboard, three days a week. It’s not as if Lloyds can’t afford to keep a branch open! And at least in the branch the staff have access to a loo, a kitchen, chairs to sit on while they serve, etc. Whatever happened to workers rights? Not to mention the customer!

Clive went sailing with Chris, Minty and crew on Chris’s racing yacht Gulvain, the first aluminium yacht made in the late 1940s, a couple of weekends ago. Here they’ve just cast off and are about to head up the Stour. Gulvain though longer than Distant Drum is alot narrower, and from the cockpit you cannot see where you are going for the size of the sails, hence the need for many crew.

I’ve come for a few days to Andorra and it’s absolutely stunning. The views from the balcony of the apartment are something else. Everything is vertical!

The photo above this one is of a quite spectacular new build. You can make out the ski lifts in the centre of this photo. In the winter this is all covered in metres of snow.

Tomorrow I leave early to head back to Barcelona for my flight home. I sincerely hope all goes smoothly, what with Ryan Air and Catalan Independence Protests as potential ‘spanners in the works’. And of course the Spanish customs officials… wish me luck.

Hasta Mañana!