I'm back ....

The pause in the number of postings on this blog will have been noticed by my two regular readers. REASON : I've been to England for the past month, my mother has been ill so my daughter Jo and I took the opportunity to fly across and do what we could to help and cheer her, and Dad, up. Mission accomplished I'm glad to report she is much better, putting on weight and is now strong enough to have a small operation that will make her life much more comfortable. Dad's a bit brighter too though I think he'll miss his red wine drinking accomplices !!

The last two weeks were actually reasonable weather - it was summer after all - though it's the first time I've been in England in the summer for 35 years. There's no football in the summer is the main reason for that. This time, though, I had the opportunity to watch the European Championships live in prime time - superb and some of the football played by Russia, Holland and the eventual winners Spain was brilliant in the true sense of the word. Thoroughly enjoyed it - the Olympics, despite the jingoistic hype, will definitely be a very poor relation to the Euro's.

Got to enjoy things that make an Englishman living abroad misty eyed - the beautiful villages, a pint at the local, long light evenings, 'real' pork pies, good bacon, Musk's of Newmarket pork sausages ( the world's best - no doubt) - by the way I really like eating pigs !! A few negatives though - the traffic is awful, driving is a pain and the legendary English road courtesy appears a thing of the past. Finally what a seedy over rated place London is - though I'm a country boy at heart and most cities drop in this category.

It was nonetheless great to get home and there's something really special about seeing the WA coast below you as you head back to Perth.

I'm now armed with a 'secret' suffolk pork sausage recipe so local pigs better watch out !!!