Saturday night tipple

...is always a Kir Royale, made with Prosecco and cassis. We buy the dinky bottles as I only have one glass, and the bottle and the glass are put in the freezer for about 10 minutes before serving as I like it very, very cold. No point in drinking warm Prosecco!

Gavin got back from the US this morning and got stuck into framing my prints for the newly decorated TV room, and then hanging them - they look rather nice. We have had a quiet day at home, and I was very pleased that we had rain today as our grass was getting very brown as it has been a long time since we had rain.

We are about to take Luke to the airport - he is going to Ethiopia for a one week internship. The company he worked for in London a few weeks ago have their head office in Addis Ababa and so he has been given a week of work there, which will be a wonderful experience for him. I am a little nervous about him going off there but I think the city it is quite stable (there have been political problems in other areas) and he has had all the necessary inoculations so hopefully it will all be okay.

Then tomorrow morning Gavin and I are going to Switzerland for one night as we have to meet the builders who have been installing a lift in the apartment building all summer, and they are about to break through for access to our apartment so we needed to be there to discuss certain things.

Last night I read the most amazing book that I was given for my birthday by a friend - it was actually sent to me from Australia, where I think it has been a huge hit (it is only released in the UK next month). It is called 
Penguin Bloom and it is an account of a tragedy that happens to a family and how they get over it, helped by their rescue of a baby magpie. The father is a photographer and so the book is filled with beautiful and unusual photos. It is such an inspirational story that I have not stopped thinking about it all day. I can highly recommend it, either as a gift or for yourself. There is also a Youtube trailer  about it.