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Last night...

today and ...

back at home.

A wonderful weekend and a beautiful sunset over the Thames as I nipped across London on the way home. Bus beats Tube (no vertigo issues!)

I am utterly cream crackered now though!

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Just after midnight on returning to my room...

Canary Wharf this morning ...

Birmingham International by lunchtime...

 ...and home to see my boys for hugs.

Lots of smiles :)

Some lovely Twitter messages this afternoon made me smile broadly. 

Curry for tea. 

And laughing with my family. 

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Arrived in London for BETT and this is my bed for the next two nights. It's huge!
And I'm very tired so I'm looking forward to making use of it.
Cupcakes have survived this far and my train journey wasn't too bad.
However, the Tube induced a panic I barely controlled and I was so relieved to escape that a hysterical smile was plastered on my face throughout the DLR leg of my trip.
I anticipate further smiles as I meet up with friends old and new over the next 48 hours!

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Leaving snowy Scotland didn't make me smile but I take lots of smiles home with me. 

The look on Jude and especially Isaac's face as they were handed kiddie bags in Bella Pasta today was priceless!

And discovering that John had bought First Class tickets for the return trip made us all smile, especially as the journey was much longer than it should have been thanks to the weather. Never mind, I've had two glasses of Prosecco... ;)

And we did make it home in the end.

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Lots of smiles today! I'm on holiday :)

Glasgow - a statue with a traffic cone in front of GoMA. 

Loch Lomond (cue singing)

Made it to the cottage.

Meet Glen Cow (and Mango of course!) Love a cow!

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On the way to Glasgow on the train. We're all sitting playing with mobile devices. Currently in the Lake District. Not that we can see anything as it's very dark!

Today was a hard day for a few reasons but my colleagues were lovely and very caring, and I survived (with a wobble in the middle!) 

I smiled because...

Y5 and 6 did brilliantly in their carol presentation to other year groups. 

My class this morning loved the Turkey challenge. And colouring!

I enjoyed watching Pixar shorts in the "overflow chill out room" from the party this afternoon. I didn't realise there were so many Pixar shorts - and thank heavens for Youtube!

I'm on the way to Scotland. The mountains and lochs are calling! 

I was given a free cup of tea as the lad had already cashed up his till. 

John's obsession with salmon also amused me no end!

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I've been to Darwen! And 'the Lisas' were reunited!

Very smiley!

And look at those hard and cupboards! I didn't take a picture of the wonderful

AGA as I was too busy warming my bum on it ;) 

Bonfire and fireworks in spite of torrential downpour - including innovative use of a broomstick to 'nudge' a non spinning CatherineWheel (to cries of dismay from children well versed in the Firework Code!) and some highly amusing 'firework reenactments' from the younger guests. 

Brilliant time had by all! Thanks for having us!

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A day of smiles in pictures!

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21 years on, almost to the exact day. The dungarees were paler blue and patterned, and the hair longer; John had more hair and Converse trainers but here was are in Obergesteln where it all started. And as we drove through the Goms Valley, the memories flowed:

• the men from Oberwald (g-dong)
• a mountain walk that was more challenging than was originally expected
• the bench by the church (still there!)
• a football tournament that a very competitive man called John (not my John) lost to everyone's amusement
• cycling to Munster along the airfield
• giving pigs indigestion with the remains of our curry
• ice cream in Ulrichen
• the 'sprawling metropolis' of Brig 
• sliding down an ice flow in Fiesch

And the trip over the Grimselpass too - although there were no breakdowns this time, we weren't in a coach and it wasn't as scary this time!

I did feel like I was in Les Revenants though as we passed the reservoir...

and then John saw a child that looked just like Victor scooting past in Zermatt. I'm watching out for zombies although I can just see lots of Japanese tourists at the moment and they're less scary!

So we're in Zermatt now and it's lovely. Some beautiful old buildings, the mountains around us are stunning, and it was nice to feel a bit chilly this evening (and get slightly damp as the rain bounced off the edge of the restaurant canopy!)

Up a mountain tomorrow - must pack the Rescue Remedy in case of cable cars!

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Cheap accommodation in Geneva - only 9CHF/day for this compact bijoux living space as modelled by Jude!

Modelling Tour de Romandie goodies - I've eaten the cheese and drunk the Chicco d'oro coffee!

Chris Froome won the Tour of Romandie, and my family disowned me as I shouted so loudly for all the Sky riders. I can shout very loudly, it's true; however this sounded louder than usual thanks to the lack of anyone else shouting encouragement at all! If you're watching the highlights, I'm at 200m to go by the red Raiffesen pig!

A lovely family day out with lots of fun and laughter!

Say cheese in other languages
In French you can also just say Souriez! which means smile.