Family stuff

The reunion was everything we could have hoped for. It was indeed a good deal more. Dining at an outside table at the end of a very warm day... enjoying light but delicious dishes, in the best company imaginable... was was in complete contrast to the usual evenings with Kindle and my monotonous crackers-and-cheese regime. Instead of turning out the lights at around 10pm, I found myself on a tram on the way home at eleven and bedtime was close to midnight.

Mickey, who went across to London to provide moral support while Jessi closed up her Bethnal Green flat, had enjoyed discovering the charms of the hipster East End. The highlight of the mother-and-daughter weekend, however, was on the Monday evening which they spent with Nicholas and Fabienne and their children... my grandchildren! I'm told that the reconstruction of their house in Crouch End has resulted in a quite spectacular and utterly enviable home. According to Jessi, Barnaby, Harry and Darcy are nothing short of delightful kids. That young Barnaby is studying Mandarin in school leaves his grandfather almost speechless!

By chance on Monday there was further family-related news. My sister Pippa reported that in her inventive and modest way she has been transforming her own living environment, re-painting walls to accentuate a tasteful minimalist style of furnishing and decoration. And my niece, Emmy (on the left), is on schedule to make of me a great-uncle! All quite overwhelming for Auld Da in Munich!