I went to see my nephew Andrew and his wife Adele. They were waiting for us with Adele's daughter from her first marriage and her parents. It was the first time I had met them. I don't have a photo of their 5 month old daughter for she was asleep.

Me with Olivia = Adele's daughter. She is now taller than her mother. I really like the photos of them together - someone said they look like sisters! Yes, they do!




We had a great evening as the faces tell us.

I've just noticed that this is the first photo with Geoff on it - he is in the group photo above on the right - with glasses and beard.



When I get new photos of baby Scarlett I shall post them to this blog.

This was my last but one night in England - the last one was with Nicholas, Julie and family.

And so back to Silsden. They took me back before they travelled on to another appointment to the north. It was Lynnes first visit there but Alan had been there a few times.

I took a few pics of them outside the house where I was born and the school next to it. I always arrived late and learnt nothing but to dream of ways of escaping from the town, and all its associations.

They met Fran and Warren (Geoff was walking the dogs) and had a cuppa before waving goodbye.

Looking forward to seeing you all next year!

Alan woke me just as I was settling into life at 'Bateson Manor'. Light breakfast and then off to pick up Linda. She was fostered by Alan and Lynne many years ago and they keep in contact. I have met her before and Jan knows her. We had a chat and set out for Alan and Lynne's church.

Alan cycled there and back on Daniel's bike. Back home we had a light lunch then it was wheelie time down to Cas Tiger's ground to watch them beaten by 'uddersfiel! You can see Linda between Alan and Lynne in one pic --- in the ground.

Then wheelie around to see the new footbridge and back home to see Lynne perform her usual miracle in the kitchen and so traditional Sunday roast dinner was ready. I took the pics to send to sons Daniel and Peter in Australia and to Paul in the south of India, on his way slowly back to Castleford. They all responded by e-mail and liked the memories of family Sunday dinner. Nice!

Later we took Linda to her nice 'techie' house and there I took a pic of her with all the computer things specially set up to help her. At the end she finally managed to take a pic of us as we left and you can see the nice look of surprise and pleasure on her face. A memorable day for all.

I took the train to Leeds to meet Alan and Lynne. He is my oldest friend. We met when we were sixteen at a college in Leeds. What a wonderful couple. Jan knows the family as well and like me is always happy to at the family house in Castleford.

They took me to a 'posh' restaurant on my first night and next day we left for York. That was my wish. I hadn't been there for more years than I could remember. We had a great day wandering around the old centre,and in York Minster













One pic is of the original mound created by Danes. They later added a fortification and so York became the capital city of Danish-England for 400 years.

The minister and other famous buildings came much later. I like York - it has a distinctive appearance and feel.

And so I arrived in Silsden. Here is dear sister Frances and dear cousin Barbara with 'Marley' - the dog!



I have added a few pics of Skipton, which is a market town to the north of Silsden with a castle and canals in additon to a river.

It also has my favourite old book shop where I can buy things that are surplus from other shops. Interesting what you can find and they are much cheaper. I bought six book and carried them back to Berlin.





Three pics of Skipton near the centre - and this is where I had my first pork pie made by a local butcher. Mmmmh!

















This is the little house where my nephew Andrew lives. It it owned by a family friend and is ideal for him. Two floors and every thing you want. Andrew also has a room at this parents when he feels like staying there - ideal arrangement!






















Me trying to Keep-Fit on Warren's machine! He makes it look very easy.

And so I had a nice first meeting in Silsden before preparing to go to Leeds to meet Alan and Lynne where the next part of the story begins.

Barry is my cousin. He and Pam live on the Wirrel not far from Liverpool so they offered to pick me up from the airport. I stayed with them and relaxed in their garden complete with large fish pond and exotic fish.

We went to a nice restuarant before relaxing in the garden. I wanted photos of the garden at night to see it with lights and get a different perspective.


They both like computers as you can see. Next day Barry drove me to Silsden to stay with Fran and Geoff,

On 11 August I settled back into Berlin life after my stay in England. The week started with a visit from Micha and Detlef. Jan and Arancha arrived two days later.

As you may know, Micha was in one of my Oldie groups and now I am helping him to learn how to use a computer. Deflef is a friend of his and I had only met him once before. Micha asked if we could meet before he went to a 'Kur'. That means you go to a place a bit like a hospital and hotel and relax and try to get fit or lose weight - or anything else to do with health.

I agreed and the weather was good so we had a great time,. As you can see, Micha talked most of the time! Detlef and I are good listeners. A really nice time and with good food. Micha is now on his 'Kur' and I hope he comes back rested and fitter for this time there. Then back to computer learning.

I got a nice surprise on 13 August. Arancha arrived with Jan and Daniel. Jan wanted to store some boxes in my cellar and Daniel helped him to carry them. I just directed operations!

Then we sat in the garden and chatted and I took these pics. Daniel is very photogenic and he knows it. One day I shall add a section called 'Daniel's Poses'.

Arancha's big happy smile captivated us all as usual. She is now back in Spain and Jan is thinking of packing his bag. Only a few more days to the flight to his uni in the States.

Nice memories of a happy hour with sun and sunny smiles.