"let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

lemons

Hi Everyone,

What a surprise to wake up on Monday morning and see this lot of whiteness outside the bedroom window (and very other blessed window too!) Living so close to the sea it is unusual to have this much snow settling and the newscasters tell us that it the most for 19 years and the coldest day since about 1918. A bit like your last winter. The city centre looked almost pretty with the piles of rubble decked out in white. The 'best' headline was probably that it was "the icing on the quake!!!" You have to feel sorry for those families that have cold houses due to cracks and holes. I'm lucky - the house is warm and weather-tight.

oranges

I hope that you are all keeping well and enjoying some nice summer weather. My photos are all of the frosty kind to cool you down if it gets unbearably hot. Oranges and lemons still survive (we hope) but it will be interesting to see what does succumb this winter. Today (Friday) the snow is mostly gone - the kids would be very disappointed to see me punching the air in pleasure. Spoilsport Nana!

playhouse

Joe, Ben and Olive had a great time on the beach making snowmen instead of sandcastles. I will see if Sarah can put some photos on her blog soon. I hear that the dogs enjoyed it immensely too. It is the holidays at present so they could all enjoy themselves. Back to school on Monday. All the grandchildren are well. Ash had a triumph with the first public performance of his band. India has a gymnastics competition over the weekend. Joe is looking forward to his birthday and has been to a paint-balling party today. Ben is doing brilliantly at school and has been reading so well. Olive came for a sleepover and we had fun and, last but not least, Elliot is piling on the pounds like nobody's business.
olive tree

That has caught you up on all ours news I think. The aftershocks continue - it must be about 8000 by now and the first anniversary of the original quake approaches (Sept 4th). I don't feel most of them but now and again there is a sizable jolt that shakes me up. I must say that I felt very proud when I heard that all the Olympic venues were completed. Can't say that I thought it would happen when London was chosen. I guessed it would be like Athens and Beijing for the last 2 Olympics and India for the Commonwealth games. All rushing to finish in time for the opening. Well done England!

Well Folks, that is it until the next time. Take care, with love Carol xx