Highly Recommended!

Thank goodness for visitors. At a time when you might think we'd be cursing anyone who came to visit us, we were actually very glad of the distraction over the weekend! Or at least I was, as Michael was celebrating a friend's stag do in... Bournemouth, which is obviously a destination of choice going by the number of stag and hen dos he saw during an insalubrious weekend sampling the delights of a dingy hotel and various 'sports bars'. Not really his thing, which is why he is so jealous of the fact that I took our visitors out to Gifford's Circus, who spent the last day of their summer season camped out at Stratton Meadow near Cirencester.

If you've never heard of Gifford's Circus before, check out their website (although it doesn't do them justice as the photos are a year old and there aren't many pictures anyway) - and book a ticket for next year! The circus is a compelling combination of English eccentricity and good old fashioned showmanship. The tent is small, the benches aren't comfortable (take cushions!) but the entertainment is great. Ella, Oliver and Tilly were entranced by a ringmistress with wild hair, fishnets and a tail coat sewn with pearl buttons, a clown called Tweedy who had an accident with a step ladder fairly early on in the show, a horse-riding opera singer, three Cossack horsemen, Russian acrobats and a Rasta jazz band.

I turned my laptop off (second weekend in succession) on Friday night and didn't turn it on again until this morning, so managed to put away much of the stress that attended the end of last week! This was aided by having the luxury of having friends to stay and Patrick and his girlfriend babysitting. Janie and I went to Juniper, a restaurant in Cotham, about a 15 minute walk away, and had a lovely meal. Smoked salmon brulee with a pomegranite and beetroot salsa followed by roast cod and something yummy - and neither of us could fit in pudding!