OK, first with the toothache. What had been an intermittent niggle turned by Saturday night into one of those horrible, intense, raging pains that turns you into a miserable, sleepless creature, restlessly stalking the house and seriously considering using a pair of pliers just to make it go away. Used the emergency dental system on Sunday, and ended up in Pontypridd (what a horrible place) where a very nice dentist not surprisingly diagnosed an abscess. Prescribed antibiotics and went at high speed to pharmacy at nearby Tesco (in a place called Upper Boat - why? Is there a Lower Boat? ) plus large quantities of over the counter painkillers. The pain continued to be so annoying that even scarfing down the tablets like Smarties wasn't making much of a dent and I spent another pretty miserable evening and night. Slept for a lot of today and there is beginning to be a slight improvement. Seeing my own dentist on Thursday morning - I will be marching in there with the pliers, saying "Just do it."

Since I last wrote, the summer avalanche of visitors has continued. The weekend after Rita and Roger was busy, with a wonderful lunch party on the Saturday for Penny and Paula. Very pleased with how menu turned out - did a sort of Meditteranean assortment of mezze - with lots of different salads, home made flatbreads, Andrew's home made hummus (which is great), chicken and to finish home made strawberry shortcakes. Fantastic to enjoy Penny and Paula's company with plenty of time for chatting and laughter. Paula brought along some of her home made beading and jewellery to show us - it is stunning and I was very touched when she gave both Penny and me a piece of her wonderful di-chromic glass as a gift. I've mounted it on a chain and it makes a stunning pendant which attracts very positive comments whenever I wear it. You can see me wearing it in some of the attached pics.

On the Sunday, Andrew's sister, her husband and three boys arrived from Bath for a day visit. The boys are enjoying their summer, even though the weather hasn't been too good. We all went over to Cefn Mably Farm Park for a look at the animals and a picnic. The farm is only about 5 miles from us, well laid out and as well as the animals there are plenty of old tractors and combines, and toy vehicles for the boys to play on/with. Picnic went well - made a tray of Rocky Road for the first time and can recommend it. We were lucky with the weather - a few intermittent showers, but nothing to spoil the day. Came home and boys had a bowl of pasta before leaving. Some pics attached.

On Monday, the next day, Hilary arrived from Swansea for a four day stay. We went to see the new Harry Potter film while she was up. Some good bits, but overall I felt it was too long and needed some more editing, especially to remove some of the teenager related romance. The performance was marred by the Chav Brats From Hell who were sitting behind us - although sitting was not really much on the agenda - with plenty of kicking, fidgets, texting, whining, loud eating and drinking, crying, sneezing, sniffing, more whining at quiet bits and other anti social behaviour. To be fair, the children were I think too young to have been taken to such a long film, but this type of behaviour is why we so rarely go to the cinema - and it is certainly not just confined to children. Openly talking through the film, making and receiving calls, fidgeting and kicking and loud eating/slurping have all rapidly become the norm.

We also enjoyed a lot of craft related activity - with visits to the new Hobbycraft and to Inkspot. Overall,the days just flew by and it seemed no time at all before we took her back to the station on Thursday afternoon. Her next visit will be for the big annual craft exhibition/fair at the CIA in the autumn, one of the highlights of the crafting year.

Friday was a catch-up day on the domestic front and on Saturday afternoon, Anna and Bec came over with Pacman, both for a catch up and for Andrew to help Anna with some of the bits to do with her new website. Pacman and Andy had a wonderful dudely afternoon together, with a lot of synchronised weeing in the garden, Paco emitting very powerful farts, cuddles all round and Booty enjoying having some new people to adore her - she is such a diva!

Lots to say. Andrew has been off this week which has been lovely. After the excitement of Monday, we had a very quiet day on Tuesday, as I was shattered. On Thursday, Andrew's parents, Rita and Roger visited with Sylvia, an old friend of theirs from their school days, who has been staying with them for a few days. It was lovely to see her, as she lives in East Sussex, so we don't cross paths very often. The weather this week has been good mostly and on Thursday it was hot and sunny, so we were able to put up the parasol on the outside table, lay out the cushions on the benches, and enjoy the garden. Andrew did some weeding on Wednesday and I must say it looked inviting and surprisingly mature especially as so many plants are currently growing like mad and/or bursting into flower. Most excitingly, the pond now has a large collection of wriggling tadpoles, which is wonderful.

We did a nice menu on Thursday. We started with Nigella's watermelon salad, with mint, feta and olives. Very refreshing and really scrumptious, definately one to repeat in summer weather. Followed this with Jamie's chicken caesar salad, which is gorgeous (we've had it before), made with home made bread and herbs from the garden. Dessert was passionfruit shortcakes, eaten outside. Bliss. Before lunch, we also had the first Pimms jug of the summer - what could be more evocative of sunny days?

Yesterday was astonishingly humid, and we had a spectacular thunderstorm and flash downpour late on Friday night. Today is sunny and hot again, but with more breeze, so more pleasant. Andrew has hung up some outside lights in the back garden - fairy lights shaped like dragonflies that twine artfully in and out of the climbing roses and the chocolate vine. They are on the same timer as the floor lights and look gorgeous. My next task is to persuade Andrew to enjoy a barbecue - he hates them and I love them. I understand his objections - nobody likes raw sausages, burnt to cinders on the outside, stinking of paraffin, but a well-done barbecue of beautifully marinated meat, lovingly cooked over proper charcoal to the right consistency is a joy, and I think there is something inherently festive and enjoyable about cooking and eating out of doors - I love picnics for the same reason.

Sadly, this week has flown past - it's always nice to have Andrew at home rather than hurtling round the country at high speed. Today, got down my summer clothes from the loft, and hoicked up my winter ones. Another marker for the progress of the seasons. It's lovely to say hello to my Birkenstocks again. I live in these during the summer. Like Barbour jackets, these age wonderfully, in fact are horrible when new, and become more tolerable as they acquire the worn comfort of age. A bit like marriage perhaps? The current Birkenstocks predate our marriage so are around 12 years old - if any readers can beat this I'd be interested. Of course in Barbour terms that's positively juvenile - a good waxed jacket can go on for 30 years.

Some photos attached of visitors and plants.