While in England we met my nephew/godson Robert, and his little family. I last saw Bethany in March, when she was only 3 weeks old and slept all the time, so I noticed a tremendous change in her. Jeremy had never seen her, and never got close to a small baby before, so we plonked her in his lap. He was terrified to begin with - Bethany took it all in her stride.
Having my two favourite men ( after George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt, who couldn't come with me) with me in my favourite place - St Ives - in beautiful sunshine, which we reached with a magical trainride along the coast, was like a little bit of heaven. Yes, it was full of tourists, and yes, you can smell the suntan lotion everywhere, and yes, the seagulls will try to snatch any foodstuffs you might unwisely carry in the street (like a scene from "The birds"), but the sheer beauty and charm of the place make it all worthwhile.
The streets are very winding and narrow, and cars do try to push their way through the crowds of pedestians, the houses are whitewashed or built of granite, with no room for gardens, but make up for it with an abundance of pots, window-boxes and hangingbaskets. There's even an old boat overflowing with flowers.
The blue of the sea, and the gold of the sand are breathtaking, and there are three sandy beaches right in the middle of town. We ate our lunch in a pub which was built in1312! It's right across the street from the beach and is probably the most well-known building in St Ives, although those interested in art would know about the Tate of the West, Barbara Hepworth's house and Bern
This year the fields around our house are planted with oil seed rape - an unattractive name for an amazing-looking crop. When the yellow flowers are gone the seed-pods fatten up, and when harvested, are crushed to produce bio-diesel. The plants actually smell pretty bad - a cabbagey, farty sort of smell - but the sight of acres of golden flowers is very uplifting. 
We've always been lucky with having friends who have holiday homes in nice places, and for the past three days have been exceptionally lucky. On Friday we were invited to Else's cabin by Rokosjøen - our local lake. We brought ice-cream with us, and Else and her daughters had strawberries, so we sat on the jetty enjoying our treat in the sun. Anne Solveig has a little Cavalier King Charles spaniel who loves water, so we had great fun throwing sticks into the water for Sonja to retrieve. We've been visiting this cabin for many years now, and always enjoy the privacy and peace there.
I've spent three days sitting in the sun ( or rain in Arnold's case) in idyllic settings with good company and wonderful food. Does it get any better?
