What a month!

The last month has been amazingly wonderful. Nº 3 son's wedding in July was stunning. Held in Brecon and its environs, it was designed to maximise the time for guests to chill, chat and generally enjoy themselves. A lot of friends, coming from distance, were camping or staying locally, so the celebrations kicked off with a foody get together on site on the Friday evening. On Saturday things continued with the 1 p.m. ceremony in the chapel of Christ College, Brecon, followed by welsh cakes and elderflower cordial on the lawn, then a drive to the reception venue on the banks of the River Usk. 3–3.30 was Pimms and canapés, at 4 the bluegrass band struck up, at 5 the cake was cut and served with a cup of tea, and at 6 we sat down to the main meal in a teepee on the grass at Pen Pont. After the meal and some brilliant speeches (including one by the bride), the band got going again and ran a ceilidh in the teepee until about 11, when members of Nº 3 son's own function band got out their instruments and did a riotous hour's set. At midnight, hotdogs were cooked and people sat around the fire pit on hay bales until they felt like drifting off to tent or lodgings. The weather promised horrible and turned out fair so the outdoors feel to the whole thing worked really well. Sunday morning various friends joined in dismantling the decorations. The bride and groom were involved as well, and finally left around 1 p.m. for their honeymoon on the Malawi / Mozambique border.

We came away with few "action" photos from the wedding, but these three give a feel for what the teepee was like, inside and out, as it was prepared.

We went home to recuperate, and then the following weekend our three Norwegian grandchildren, who'd taken their parents to Cornwall for a week's holiday, descended upon us, packing their parents back off to Oslo. We had a ball for nine days or so with Elissa (10), Sam (9) and Theo (6). A couple of days in the New Forest, and then up to Erin Mae. This was Theo's first time over with us, so he was doubly excited. Not too many days for boating, but we got down the Trent and Mersey to visit the children's favourite wildlife centre / park at Wolseley Bridge. Then they flew home under the tender care of SAS cabin crew.

So now we are free to consider the rest of our year, and where we would like Erin Mae to take us. We've started north on the Trent and Mersey, with the intention of taking the Ribble link on to the Lancaster canal, but the first available slot turns out to be not until the end of September. So we'll probably see whether Erin Mae's 60 feet will fit into the locks on the Leeds and Liverpool canal, for a trip across the Pennines. We've always wanted to visit Wigan…