Summer has come.  It's hot and sticky, 90 degrees in the shade, and GP has gone into his annual hibernation.  He's closed in our bedroom with the air conditioner on, the metal blinds down and the lights off.  We won't see him till evening.  We've started our rounds of good-byes and last night went to a party at our German friend's place.  They head home mid-summer.  Grace also said a sad farewell to her Dutch friend who's going to finish school in Wales at a boarding school.  There were many tears.  On Friday GP and I went to dinner in a restaurant we used to frequent when we lived here over twenty years ago.  We wanted to see if it would live up to our fond memories.  It did.  Dinner was excellent and the two bottles of white wine went down way too easily.  Last night I stuck to water.  My hair has now taken on a salmon-ish tint and I have a strange desire to swim up river.  xxoo me