Happy Birthday ... to me !

Today is my birthday ... and, as everyone else has gone off to work and to school, it's just me and the Wonder Dog here having a party.

And in our own quiet way we're having a ball.

Look what I dug out of the dark depths of my closet over the weekend:

Happy Friday ...

It's been a hectic week here at Talk-a-Lot Towers. I've really struggled to get back into my normal routine. It's amazing how three weeks off seem to have lobotomised me to the point where I can't remember which day Emi needs his gym kit, when I need to put the recycling out and what time we have to be at swim club ... .

Le Château de Cheverny ...

Would you like to have a look at the real Marlinspike Hall, country home of Captain Haddock and hangout of that great hero, Tintin?

Hostal la Fosca, Palamós, Spain ...

Looking for a beach-side, child-friendly, dog-welcoming restaurant set on a pristine beach in a beautiful cove on the Costa Brava? Well, you might like to try this place!

Mama Pepita's sewing machine ...

It's a sad thing, but I never knew my mother-in-law. She died twenty years before I became part of Mr B's family, and it is one my abiding regrets that I never got to meet her. Right up until his death my father-in-law used to sit on the terrace, and tell me how wonderful she was. He missed her every day of his long life without her. He used her name as the password for anything that needed password protection. It may not have been very secure, but it told you everything you needed to know about their marriage. And dear Papa was the most devoted of husbands, staying true to her memory through thirty years of being a widow.