A busy few days.

On Saturday I took Nino for his swimming lesson. It was his 10th lesson, and I was amazed that he actually swam without any arm floats or noodles. I'm proud of this boy who was so frightened of jumping in and letting go of an adult. He's done so well! 

 

Saturday afternoon we went to the Grand Theatre to watch Swan Lake by the Bulgarian ballet company. It was a Christmas present from Mario and Kasia. Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. The orchestra was superb too. 

Sunday was church, and in the afternoon I went for my first open water swim of the new year. It was far too rough to swim, but we all had great fun jumping the waves. My wetsuit is amazing! Four very brave women went in with their costumes and even bikinis on! There's no way I could do that just yet. 

Last night (Monday) I went down to watch the starlings and took some video. They were as stunning as ever. 

A few photos from a little walkabout too. The last remnants of Christmas.

We also got a bit of snow! 

11th January

Today I went to watch ex Marine Tim Crossin, a cancer sufferer, do an open water swim at Cleveleys beach. He's raising money for The Royal Marines Charity. He's fought, and beaten three Lymphoma cancers in the past three years, and is now fighting for a fourth time. I decided to go down to show my support for a very worthwhile cause. He was lovely and in great spirits. There was quite a crowd watching and 7 other people joined him for the swim in extrememely choppy waters. I would have loved to have done it myself, but have had a viral infection for a couple of weeks, which I'm just about turning the corner on, so didn't want to tempt fate. I took some photos and video instead and gave a donation. 

I took a few photos of Alana yesterday while looking after her for Kasia. She went to a stay and play at Nino's pre school for a couple of hours. Alana is walking so well now bless her. 

4th January

We've just spent a couple of quiet days sorting the house out, putting the Christmas decorations away.

 Aniello had an ultrasound scan on his kidneys yesterday to check on them. He passed a stone on Boxing Day which had been causing him a lot of pain, so they just wanted to check there was nothing else going on. Hopefully it'll be good news when he gets the results.

We went to see Lella today to see how she is. She's still poorly with this bad flu or whatever it is going around. She's had to have antibiotics because it was going on her chest. Hopefully she'll be on the mend soon. 

Called at Mario's for a couple of hours. Alana is walking now. Not too steady yet but she's off now. It won't be long before she's chasing Nino around the house. We brought Nino back with us for a while, then Mario brought Alana round and we all had tea. Lucia came across for an hour too earlier on. 

I took some video of Alana walking and playing a whistle. She's so funny bless her. Love my babies so much ♥