The photos are of our workstations (me laptop and washing machine and Stephen iMac and sink), and a couple of the kitchen thrown in.

Yesterday evening we had a call from Ron, Stephen’s cousin. We already knew that he had a cold (Melanie got in contact with us on Monday) and might not be able to make it to our place to go to a show on Saturday with us. He said he is on antibiotics and his GP has told him to rest. He probably feels a bit bad about cancelling, but it could have happened with any one of us. We just hope he is better soon. It’s disappointing not to see him, but I was worried because the weather is going to be much colder this weekend, not good for someone recovering from a cold. Also, there is a LOT of walking involved in getting around without a car, and I wasn’t sure he would be well enough to tackle it.

Ron was going to be dropped off here at lunchtime on Friday to have some time with us, then picked up again on Sunday afternoon. Melanie offered us a ride back to Gloucester where we would stay the night with Ron, then take a bus to Bath for a few days, then catch a bus back to Ron’s place for a night, and return to Croydon on Friday. We have changed our arrangements to travel directly to Bath from London on Monday, and return from there on Friday. We’ve also booked an extra night at the hostel. We have let Melanie know what is happening so that they don’t need to plan around taking us to Gloucester, which is probably quite inconvenient for them – especially as Ron cannot be our host for the night.

I feel a bit of relief as this is far less complicated than the original arrangement – much as I would like to see the family on this trip.

Stephen is feeling better today, but it’s raining and not very inviting to go out. We have a bit of shopping to do later.