This was the first time Granny Perry had been on the train to the capital for the best part of 30 years, but the trip went smoothly. The weather was sunny and the skies clear so we could see most of London during our ‘flight’.

We’ve had quite a bit of luck with the weather whilst we have been here. Although it did rain a bit last week in Devon. In fact, the weather has been so good I had to go out and buy another pair of shorts.

Then we had lunch at Pizza Express and were joined by Mr Stott. Here he is with the angelic junior members of the team. They have both had birthdays in the last week and pictures of these occasions will be coming to the internet some time soon.

No, Surrender – Part 1

No, Surrender – Part 2

For some unknown reason I only got hold of this album a couple of weeks ago. It’s a bit dark but blimey it’s good. Give it a listen.

But do you remember the rules? Because I certainly don’t. For an afternoon, or more usually a damp British summer, I would have been able to quote you chapter and verse on the game we were playing. Thirty years later and my memory gets a little hazy. Don’t fear though gentle reader because this is the internet and everything is here.

Behold the rules of every card game you have ever played. Don’t thank me, thank a gentlemen called John McLeod who has put this collection together and posted it on the web for us to view. Thank you sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar and damp family holidays can fly by once more.

Some say that it is the wild border country, we just couldn’t spot the joins. I did try and convince JFGP that he needed his passport every time we crossed from NSW to Victoria (and vice versa) but despite some initial gullibility he just wasn’t buying it. Back to the drawing board.

Something similar has happened in our house. One of the junior members of the team (no names, no pack drill) has made a habit recently of climbing into our bed in the middle of the night. The occasional cuddle is OK but this had been happening every night for a number of weeks. I’d tried rational discussion, encouragement and even a little bribery but it still was carrying on. As a last resort I reached for the metaphorical stick. I said to the cuddler that every time he got into our bed I would charge him a dollar. He even paid up for the first two nights.

But then he got wise to this and, rather than stopping waking his Mum up as hoped, went for what I can only call the cunning angle. He has, on several nights this week, snuck into our room; tapped his Mum on the arm and whispered – “Can you come and cuddle me in my bed, if I get in with you Dad will want me to pay him money and my piggy bank is nearly empty.”

You have to admire the ingenuity of the little fellow. Now I’ll just have to resort to a sound thrashing each night before bed.

For more information on this kind of behaviour check out this article.

• Outbursts – the last track on Outbursts by Turin Brakes
• Glad and Sorry – track 3 on CD2 of There’s a Whole New World Out There by the ever marvellous Francis Dunnery
• The fine work of Graeme Swann on Twitter
• Halting State by Charlie Stross
• OK Go – This Too Shall Pass, hat tip Neil Gaiman

Which is not to say that these are the only things in my life that are good, hello SWMBO, JFGP and MIGO.

Little did we know that Team Reeve had been plotting and planning. With the aid of a range of suppliers (“it’s amazing what you can find on eBay”) we were all kitted out with full pirate gear and participated in themed events including a treasure hunt. To quote our t-shirts “To err is human, to arr is Pirate!”

JFGP says that the highlight of his weekend was “surfing on the waves on my boogie board” and can’t wait until next year when we go back again.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present this week’s winner, spotted on an internal email at work – “Irish Fears”.