Thanks Pauline. Yes, seeing the weight lift off dad, albeit only for a few days, makes the effort worth it, and the girls love him. Emma listened as dad told her all about "long long ago" though she misinterpetted some of what he told her, as his description of his wind-up torch was later used by her to describe how long long ago all the lights had to be wound up for a "whole minute so they could work for a whole day"!

Im afraid to say that she knew it was my house as she kept asking how I coped in such a mess, but I knew it was coming as she complains at her home how untidy and cluttered it is and its neither - dad has put away everything he sensibly can and he & I were joking that unless the walls were painted white, the floor had a white carpet on it, and the only thing in the room was one plain armchair (no fussy patterns) in white or black no doubt, she would still find it cluttered! So what chance did I stand? Yes, dad find the visits rejuvenating. Though he did seem more tired than usual, which is worrying, but then it was hot which is sapping, and he's 74 now, so he's allowed to be tired!

Im still smarting over hte memory (pre kids) of an earlier visit where I spent the whole of mum's drive to us (4+ hours at her speed) cleaning EVERYTHING and she came in and said (with no irony) "what a shame you are too busy to do any cleaning"! Aaargh! She has always considered me messy and unfortunately she will probably never forget that about me, just as she considers me to be a bad driver, and Im not! (She remembers how I drove stgraight after I passed my test - it was too aggressive for her tastes so she wouldnt let me borrow her car, and that is the way the impression has remained, since 1990!)