Hurrah, it rained during the night

We know what sapeurs, pompiers are, don't we Cath. I remember it was one of your old sayings. (remember the hand with the finger pointer at Havenstreet Station - NEXT TRAIN??) That was another our OUR jokes.
I thought your idea of the ivy leafed window covering was brilliant, Steve. I commend it to you Cath, so that those people on the top of the mountain cannot look directly into your bathroom, from two miles away.
Velux windows are rooflights, often put in loft extensions, that enable one to open and let in fresh air, but I think you were having us on, Nic. Cathy has a Velux window in her workroom, but she needs a good long pair of steps to reach them. Remember those at school where you pull a cord which operates a little wheel and opens the windows?
Instead of Bramble Cottage, Nic, it could be Upside Down Cottage.
I think our south east facing bedroom would be an ideal breakfast room, as we get the sun every morning, but that is too, too for Mum.
Steve, we used to have a rather snobbish chap in the Bank who name dropped all the time. Hoare's Bank was one name I remember, as it was one of the top notch banks. We had a customer named Hoare and our snob told us to be particularly attentive as " his mother was a Hoare, you know". Sorry, John - I seem to remember that you are distantly related to Hoares Bank. Eleanor is a nice name, isn't it Ruth. My sister always called her dolls Eleanor Victoria. You could also follow the trend of Chelsea, Brooklyn etc., by deciding on Wheatley (Or wherever).
Where on earth did you dig up all that Welsh Julian, It is too difficult to have made it up. My limit is dialch y vawr (thank you very much, I think) Seems to me you would do better by concentrating on French. Thank you for the suggestion of adding a ? at the end of our web name. It seems to work for me but I now have to enter my name and password every time I blog on. My new website is merrow-smith.org/? Funny.
We had a lovely day out yesterday. Thought we would take the bus (from outside our door) to Cowes, via Newport. It arrived right on the ferry pontoon and we were able to enjoy the fun and the crowds without getting too tired. Every year the Yacht Haven has all these wonderful food stalls so I had a plateful of Thai curry noodles and chicken, but Mum loves crepes, so she had an 18" round pineapple flavoured crepe - and she ate it all. Have we cracked it? We wandered along to Cowes Parade again crammed with people. It is a canvas village like a posh Portobello market! Too many people waiting for the bus so we took a taxi to the chain ferry and another from East Cowes right to our door. Grate. Have a nice day. Love Dad and Mum.