Recovering from a busy and enjoyable weekend. My father is the eldest of seven siblings so as a consequence I have a huge number of cousins - we range in age from 44 down to about 6, with a number of cousins also having their own children, to add to the generational confusion. What makes the mix even more interesting is that my dad's siblings (5 brothers and a sister) are geographically scattered both across the UK and the world, so some of my cousins are only seen on infrequent inter-continental trips. One such took place recently with my cousin Sarah visiting from Canada, doing a fortnight of sightseeing and family visits. Sarah is 35 and I last hosted her when she was 18, and I was living down in Plymouth. Fortunately this time round the house was pretty much straight after the move, and we met her at the station on Friday afternoon.

It was good to catch up with her - we had a fairly quiet night in on Friday, just chatting, enjoying a meal and catching up on family news. On Saturday we took her down to the Bay - to see the Senedd, home of the Welsh Assembly, the Millennium Centre and all the bars/restaurants/shops at Mermaid Quay. We enjoyed wandering about between showers then went over to the Terra Nova for a drink. This pub is named after the ship Captain Scott used on his voyage to the South Pole (the ship set sail from Cardiff) and has a ship-like prow with arrow shaped balcony. Sarah thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Senedd and when we got to the pub set about sampling a variety of Brains beers (the local brewery) which is not available in Canada. On the way home we dropped her off in the city centre to allow her to do a little shopping and I went home to glue myself to the Tour de France time trial prologue.

Saturday evening, we again enjoyed a peaceful dinner with wine then on Sunday we visited Caerphilly Castle, one of the finest castles in South Wales, and fortunately very close to us - about twenty minutes in the car. Again, we had to dodge some showers but it was an impressive and interesting visit. Came home for a sandwich then met up with friends down at the Wharf pub for a drink (again, Sarah enjoying the Brains beer). Home for dinner then bed, before an early start on Monday morning to take her to the station for her train to London and Gatwick airport. The weekend seemed to fly by and I attach a few photos.