A well-travelled blog, even in this heat!

Every now and then, I take a look at the statistics on where in the world this blog is being read. There's been an odd trend recently, and I'd love to know what explains it. For most of the life of the blog, the vast majority of readers were from the UK. Recently, however, British readership has slumped, and Italy and the US have overtaken big time. The table below shows page views for yesterday.

Odd, isn't it? Why are Italians so interested? And why am I losing readers from the UK? (Am I that boring?) Four readers in Cambodia? Two in The UAE?? And just who is that one lonely reader in Canada? Maybe some of you from outside of the UK could use the comments facility at the bottom, and introduce yourselves? Please? I'd love to hear from you.

I fixed the mushroom vent. That glue is truly amazing! And we've started on the chimney, too. It's not as difficult and scary as we'd imagined, of course. It's just slow because the sealant we're using in conjunction with glass-fibre rope takes hours to set fully. And of course, it's been VERY hot, which doesn't help with jobs. The maximum temperature in the cabin has been 32° C, with all windows and doors open. But, of course, the skies are wonderful.

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Life back at the house

Monday morning was time for us to leave Kantara in the hands of the team at Debdale. Just before we went, Martin, the man who was going to be dealing with Kantara, gave us a guided tour of another boat which had just finished being zinc-sprayed, and he answered a number of questions we had about the process. Anxieties assuaged, we drove away back to St Albans and a list of decorating jobs to do.

We were already glad of the break when it came to Wednesday afternoon, when we went with a group from church to Chenies Manor.

It's a beautiful, Jacobean manor house that's been extended and altered over the centuries. It's privately owned, so it's only open to the public for just three hours on two days a week. The current owners are responsible for an enormous amount of restoration work, and the interior and exterior are a joy to behold. The gardens, too, are remarkable.

Though much of the grass was being regularly watered, and was very green, the long dry spell had taken a toll on this lawn in particular.

Steve returned from Poland on Friday, having spent several days with Karolina at her parents' home. They actually had quite a lot of rain while we were parched.

Yesterday evening found us eating in a very pleasant restaurant right next to the Kennet and Avon Canal in Reading. We'd driven Jess to a gig in the town - it was the simplest and quickest way for her to get there - and didn't stay for that. We were hungry and thirsty, and we do know their entire repertoire really quite well!

But, having enjoyed a fine, leisurely meal at Browns, we drove back to the venue and caught Said the Maiden's second 45-minute set. We didn't go in (and we're glad we didn't, because it was, Jess told us, unbearably hot and stuffy), but the park bench we sat on looked through a side door onto the stage, so we could enjoy the performance from a very pleasant, much cooler position.

Today? More flipping decorating. Wallpaper stripping. Oh joy!