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We left Rouen in the rain, which then turned to fog as we travelled along the motorway. We stopped in the aire in Calais and ate a delicious lunch at a restaurant overlooking the entrance to the harbour. We could just see the ferries as they arrived and left. The fog was very thick.


Lunch consisted mainly of fish and we chose the 14 Euro menu. Entree - Walter had mussels in a cream sauce, Darren had fish soup and I chose lightly - sliced tomatoes with a dash of dressing. We all had poached hake in a sauce made of leeks plus frites of course. Dessert included ice cream for Walter, cheese for Darren and Creme Caramel (my favourite) for me. We then drove to the port, where we did not experience any problems with the Border Control. The man even asked Darren if he lived in the areas which were affected by the floods, and he sounded concerned.


So back home again. We now have four families squeezed into two houses. Emma, Steve, Jackson and Isabel have moved into Donna's house as the renovations on their new house will not be completed for another four weeks. Darren, Billie, Jay and Jespa are staying with us until they leave on Tuesday. So there is much coming and going, talking and organising and plans changing constantly. As we all like to organise this adds to the complexity of it all. Luckily we get along well.

This afternoon Billie and I took five children to a pantomine in the Joydens Wood Community Hall. It was put on by the local drama group called Pavilion Players and it was very well acted, I might add. This evening Darren and Donna are at a party, Scott is at a party, Emma, Steve and Billie are at a prayer meeting and I babysat the five children at Donna's house. They were very well behaved and I hardly heard a peep from them so could concentrate on my blog writing. Walter was having a quiet few hours at home.

Over in Utrecht the van Dam family are recovering from what I think is an outbreak of Norovirus, probably caused by the arrival of a large influx of people all trying to live in a heated apartment in cold weather. They have taken over their new house in Houten, which also has to have some changes made (a dormer window and bathroom reduced in size in order to gain a bedroom back) before they move in.

Life is busy!