Heather’s out - and so are the flies

I could have managed this villa holiday with only my small rucksack but we have a hold-all as well. More room for dresses and shoes for me then!

#2 daughter and family flew out of Newcastle for Amsterdam this morning. She had to work late last night so it was last minute to get her holiday head on. The rest of us are fretting about getting there tomorrow. Or the next day. Or whenever.

Mr C was faffing on with his packing so I got out of his way and had a walk along the hillside, up through the quarry and then the moor via Gimmerknowes. I’ve walked there for years with no problem but today the gate to Gimmerknowes was padlocked. I climbed over it to reach the track. There was no other way out of the field. They must want us to take the other, much steeper, path down through the woods. It doesn’t say it is a right of way nor does it say no access so I’ll have to ask Val who has lived here all her life.

You’d think the stressy hassle of this Italian jaunt would have put us off travelling but no. Mr C has paid the deposit for us to go to Benin, Togo and Ghana for the voodoo festival in January. This is very exciting as apart from a horrendous package tour we took to Gambia on the spur of the moment after my mum died, we’ve not been to West Africa. We have been to only 10 other African countries.