Had a lot of leave left and so I took a week in Benone outside Downhill.

Friends of ours have a little cottage there, under the cliffs beside the beach and they loaned it to us.
Great weather all week. Went on the beach most days and either walked or lay about reading.

Leisure reading was, "The boy in the Striped Pyjamas" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns".

Played a nostalgic 36 holes on Benone golf course. This is where the boys and I started playing golf 25 years ago! Still a lovely little course. While I was playing golf, Lilian was doing here Precept Bible Studies. Guess who's the spiritual one in our family!
Being the "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" we picked a lot of blackberries and elderberries for Lilian's world famous "Hedgerow Jam". We still need the crab apples and hazelnuts.

Went for a walk along the cliffs and out to the Musseden Temple.

On Saturday the car broke down in Castlerock, (the clutch has gone) and Rick had to come up on Sunday and tow us home!

Nev's birthday on Wednesday night so in Home Group Alison had got a cake for him. (With a picture of Nev on a bike of course!)
Day off on Friday and Rick and Katie came over with Reuben. Rick and I played golf, though the course was still pretty damp in parts. Then Reuben and I played cars!

Friday night, Carl and Mavis, Bill and Catherine and Lilian and I all went to Balloo House in Killinchy to celebrate Bill's birthday and then back to Carl and Mavis' place for a bit of craic. Juls was in when we arrived and had the fire lit. (Coming into that time of year again)

On Saturday morning Lilian was teaching a Precept Class and I had some hospital visits to do and afterwards I stopped in Belfast and went to St George's Market. It was bunged!
A couple of Celebrity Chefs were doing some cookery demonstrations and the little jazz band was going and it was good. I could spend a fortune in there on food. I bought some venison sausages and tasted all the cheese and olives etc and came home!

I had a couple of calls to make in Carrick and later on Jackie and Nicola came over for a Chinese!

Been a while since I posted but the weather has been so bad recently we haven't got out much.
Took Friday off and went blackberry picking. Headed down to see Rick & Katie in Greyabbey and went off with them to our old blackberry picking grounds outside Ballywalter.
It's a very quiet stretch so that Reuben could run around the fields and the roads.
Came back that evening and did some work in the garden and ended up mowing the lawn in the dark!


Found a huge spider in the garage and a large frog in the greenhouse which I managed to get into a plastic bucket and empty him into the stream at the bottom of the garden where he will be very happy!