Me to..... it looks so scary on the tv

really hope she is ok, i think it will put loads of travelling to Europe this year

oh...... gloat away....... he so deserves it
well done Arsenal..... good start to the season for you Lena

Afternoon all.

Taking a breather from housework! Need to cook and bake tomorrow!!! We had 2 seconds of rain.

Sorry you aren't feeling well georgy - rest and liquids - and chicken soup/broth is very very good!

I got the video to work but don't see John! Oh well.

Wonder if augusta is back. Really hope she hasn't had problems.

Was surprised to see how Hungary keeps people out - 3 or four levels of razor wire fencing - looks awful but effective.

Best get back to work!

No problem with my internet today for a change.

How did u get to see the video? Who was in it, if not John?

Dan, the video was on Scott Love's twitter. It's only about 10 seconds and just shows John drying his top under a hand dryer and you can hear him laughing about it. Think it's about 20th July that it was posted so it's still there if you just click on the 'show media' button.

Hope Augusta wasn't caught up in the craziness at the Channel ports. Think I'll be using the Normandy and Brittany routes if I go over to France any time soon!

Thanks Giddykipper - I only saw a video of a bunch of people dancing and something by a pool.

I too hope Augusta is back OK. Think we will go to Caen if we have to go to France. At the moment I am STAYING in the good old UK!

Good to see you and hope you keep posting.

Just wondering whether John is still a fervent England supporter - and how traitorous he appears to other Aussies at this time of anguish for them! He's a good lad...

Has Augusta surfaced yet - and how is everyone enjoying this brief return of the summer we were looking for? Just off to lie in the sun ...

im back, we got back today, thank you for all your concern.

The channel tunnel was fine both ways, but then the car section is totally enclosed, so much easier to keep secure!

I love travelling so so much , don't they say travel broadens the mind.

the only trouble we had was on the swiss/Italian border driving . or trying to drive back through the san gotthardo pass, some kind of road works held us up at the tunnel for hours, its something like 14 miles long.

and I really love Switzerland, lake Lucerne is beautiful, but far too expensive!! And of course venice is wonderful, I could go there again and again and never get bored.

The channel tunnel /Eurostar was absolutely fine, but it is odd, no where else in Europe, including going into Switzerland, bothers at all with any kind of border control, its just free movement everywhere, I don't think we had our passports checked once, although we went through, france, Switzerland, ltaly and back via Germany and Luxembourg and Belgium.!!

how are you all?

Good lord ...... i've been so sick....... vomiting, coughing, sneezing, sore throat..... drippy nose..... achy ..... sleeping..... first morning up.

on the bright side ...... i lost weight

going to read back in a minute

First we won the cricket....... the ashes are ours

football season has also started Liverpool started well with a win.......
but Lena what happened to Arsenal..... i had them down a winners this year

hope all are good x

So pleased you are safe...... we were very worried with all the border trouble

wow did you get around , how was it........

not surprise about the borders every where else, i think its a real security worry

but enough of that what did you see, what did you like, hotels ...... food details
Augusta this is what we need

p.s never been to Venice....... whats it like.....always hear different thing .... beautiful but smelly ........ is what i have heard

He will jumping around....... rubbing it in to any aussie he can find

no Nyannie, but see has guests i think

hope your good and all is going well

and no Lena....... perhaps she is sunning herself...... she can't have gone into hiding due
to the Arsenal result...... it only happened yesterday

same to you hope you're good and well

I'm here, waves to all.
Internet still not great and my laptop is driving me mad. Even my IT expert is ready to throw it out the door. He is seriously considering backing up everything on it, stripping it down and reinstalling everything from scratch.

I won't say it's a good morning......the summer's disappeared again......THREE whole days of sunshine.......that's your lot......this is Britain after all. May not be needing these again for a while.

At least I had a sunny day for my birthday, 21 again.....and again.....and well not quite again

Did absolutely nothing but open cards and pressies, sit in the sun, drinking tea and listening to Arsenal flush the first game of the season down the pan.

That is what you get for gloating.

Oh georgy, you poor thing.......hope you're feeling much better today.

At least you had the cricket to watch.....hurrah..... and you've lost weight.....but not the nicest way to do it.

Good start for Liverpool, well done.......Arsenal, not so much.
Words fail me, sometimes they just can't seem to pick themselves up.....it's not that they're lacking talent.....I just don't understand it.

And the great new signing....Petr Cech....the Emirates debut from hell. Even I had to smile at this on twitter....."It's Szczesny in a hat!"

Anyway, I'm not throwing them under a bus just yet

Ah Happy 21st Lena and you look so young
hope you got some lovely gifts and wishes

and don't been so down on your result , there is always a bright side ..... Liverpool WON

Lovely to have you back augusta, sounds like you had a great time. I'm with georgy, we want to hear all about it, lots and lots of details.

BIB. We were talking to o/hs brother and his wife over the weekend, they also have been touring all over Europe this summer including Turkey and they said the same thing about border control.....there is none. Straight through, not even a cursory glance.
They were quite expecting to have their campervan checked coming back into UK....but no.....straight in no fuss. I find that more than a little worrying really.

Anyway, looking forward to hearing all about your travels.

Hi Giddy, lovely to see you again.

Thanks to you and georgy for actually being able to see it....I was beginning to think I was imagining it

Yes the Cricket was awesome......... we gave those aussie a right bashing

your right not to throw them under the bus, if i was a betting girl (actually i am )lol
i would have them as my favs for the Title this year
bad start for Cech...... but a good signing..... you don,t become a bad player over night

p.s did i mention Liverpool won

first of all


Happy birthday lena,

im glad you had a good day. xx

my trip was lovely.

our first stop was lake Lucerne, which is beautiful, Its obviously full of tourists, but mainly Asian ones from Japan or China. We went up a mountain in a cable car and got totally lost walking down, but the view was incredible.

And then we had dinner in Lucerne itself next to the wooden bridge, built in the 1400s. This community has been going for a long long time, very successfully. I especially liked the wooden weir, which has been used for centuries to keep the level of lake Lucerne stable.

Then we went to the various Italian lakes, driving past lake lugano, across lake como on the car ferry and spent a day at lake garda. they were all beautiful but it rained whist we were on lake como, so lake garda on a sunny day was more memorable. we visited garda itself which is on the east coast of the lake. And saw a wonderful duck in the river with all its duckings.

Then a brief stop in Padua, visiting St anthonys church and the oval shaped park. Its such a shame that the UK doesn't really have the same kind of town squares as you find everywhere in Europe. There is something so relaxing about being able to have a meal sitting outside in a square, just watching the world go by.

And then onto a campsite on the coast near Venice, The campsite was fine, the beach and sea was wonderful, and it was perfect weather, very very hot! We had to use the air conditioning in the caravan at night!

Then we caught the water bus into venice itself, for a couple of days. Obviously its the height of tourist season, so the main areas like St Marks square were absolutely packed, but the beauty of venice is that there are always quiet passageways and squares that are almost deserted, just off the main routes from one place to another. One day we spent mostly on the water buses, sightseeing, and the other day we went and explored the Jewish ghetto area, and the ca dor museum. and a couple of the bienniele art shows, but I didn't really have enough information about this with me, and I had problems getting online.

then we drove home, which was probably the worst part, as it seemed to take a very long time, but the highlight of this was lunch by the palace near lugano, so so luxurious and special. This is a place we must go back to visit again.

I still love the idea of travelling by car, to see countries from a different angle to usual, But I had forgotten how big Europe is, and how long it takes to get around.!!!

Morning all

Cousin leaves at 11.30 today. Much as I love them, I want to get back to my routine. I am pooped after the preparation, cleaning, cooking etc. Today, strip and remake bed, hoover and dust. Tomorrow I have to buy a housewarming present.

Oh augusta, your trip sounds magical. Would love to do something like that, but we are very glad to have you back safe and sound. Georgy has filled you in so don't need to tell you that ENGLAND THRASHED THE AUSSIES and regained the ashes (Apologies John to you and all your friends), but the Australians were very smug before the test series.

Get well georgy - take care of yourself. Fizzy drinks are in order for bad stomachs. A friend of mine also told me that the water you boil rice in is a good thing for bad tummies, but I've never tried it.

So glad you had a lovely day Lena - you certainly deserve to have a nice day - we are the same age '21'. I'm going to stick at that even if I get to 90.

Well, best get ready for our gardener - have to tell him not to do anything noisy as cousins are sleeping and other half is almost ready for work.

Have a good day everyone.

hope your cousins visit wasn't too tiring nyannie,

ive spent today gardening, its looking much better but still another flower bed to go. The rain has made everything grow so much. A gardener must be so great.......

my roses and tomatos seem to be doing well at the moment, but the pots weren't watered while we were away, so I needed to go to the nursery to fill in a few gaps!

I just wish I could avoid all the stinging nettles in the garden! my leg got stung! oops

hope you are all well

Wow, what a day we're having down here.

The rain started at 3am, thunder and lightening started at 4am and the rain's been torrential till lunchtime.

The fire brigade are pumping out the basements in town, they had to evacuate the shopping centre because the drains were overflowing in the high street and all flying displays have been cancelled on the first day of Airbourne, our annual four day airshow. The met office say we've had 60mm of rain so far (more than the average for the whole of August) and more forecast this evening. This is when I'm grateful for living high up.

Hope you're all safe where you are.

You do realise that John supports England in the cricket?