Just had a very nice weekend indeed. The things that made it a nice weekend included:

1. Having two consectuive days of sunshine, a first I think for the summer (if not the year to date) in the UK.

2. Having an impromptu barbeque with the neighbours, and sitting out under the stars till 1:30am, chatting and watching the odd bat fly overhead.

3. Spending the Sunday afternoon at the Dragonfly sanctuary at Lee Valley (or the Mosquito Sanctuary as Kate used to tell her puzzled friends), and then later a picnic across the road underneath the apple trees in the Waltham Abbey orchard.

4. The amusement of watching Kate being chased by a protective swan (I think she got her revenge later when she biffed the frisbee into the stream and I had to retreive it).

5. Not having to do any DIY (well, there was about half an hour or so putting up a security light).

6. Not having to go into the West End for anything that life in the 21st century demands.

7. Having almost enough sleep - well, until the 5:00am alarm on Monday morning to ensure that I catched my plane.

All in all, a very lovely weekend.

Shameful - the whole of june whizzes by and I don't get round to putting up any entries on this page. Well, June was largely a blur of work (the wage-slave type), still burning the midnight oil in Sweden.

We did spend the last week in Portugal (there will be pictures later I promise, for those who are interested) - a fantastic place, not the least beacause it has the sort of weather people in places like the UK only dream about. We had a whole week where I think the temperature didn't drop below 30 degrees C, and bountiful sunshine every day.

Lisbon is definately a cool city (the Expo park is pretty neat) and the trams a real laugh (public transport driven like it's a rollercoaster at a funfair - I kid not!), and there is also substantial history and some great beaches to be had outside of Lisbon too.

Can't wait for a chance to go back.