Friday, after a hard day at work working on lots of red tape I drove up to Bolton to visit Em and Jerry, finally arriving at 9:30pm.

Saturday started with breakfast, crumpets with honey, yum.. and mayhem from Laura and Amy out on the patio in the sunshine. Soon it was time to go off to Lyme House estate so after a quick packing of a picnic it was in the car and a zoom along M and A roads. And amazingly it was still sunny by the time we reached the estate.

It was out with the picnic.. which was wonderfully organised by Em, and a fun time was had by all.

After the food we climbed the steps up to the house and had the full tour. Unfortunately, by the time we got out to view the gardens it had clouded over. Fun was still had with the girls and Jerry rolling down the slopes before the rain started and it was time to go home.

It was a pleasant evening nattering and watching Em get ready for organising the church’s toddler group before bedtime.

Sunday started with getting the girls ready to go to Twinkles and the kids’ group at church. After dropping Em and the girls off it was back to the house where Jerry began the preparations for his hallmark roast chicken.

I don’t know where the rest of the day went, but after lunch, which, most importantly, included custard (though Laura prefered sprinkles to custard!!!) it was almost time to drive home.

And so, after leaving at 3:10pm, I got home exactly 3 hours later feeling shattered.

It was a lovely weekend and I want to public thank Em and Jerry (and of course Laura and Amy) for their hospitality.