It didn’t send, so here it is:

Dear Tanya and Julio,

The bluebells are out and they form a dazzling scented carpet everywhere in the woodland. The weather is not so hot here but dry and quite pleasant. I am amusing myself by transplanting thousands of tiny seedlings. I donít want to lose a single one. Quite different from Daddy who throws half his lettuce seedlings into the compost with impunity. It is relaxing and warm in the greenhouse but the house is a dump at the moment so I hope it will rain soon so I can do a bit of housework.

It wasnít an Easter holiday at all. Very boring. Very strange. Daddy hasnít opened his bunny from Granny or his white chocolate orange ball from Olivier but he has eaten most of mine and the big bar he bought for himself!

We had a nice day and a half in Durham. Olivier and Daddy played tennis on arrival after nine hours on the road! They complained about the tennis balls being flat and the court had an uneven surface. The next day Granny and I took Carla to Celia. We did some shopping for Olivier at Tescos. Then Richard arrived at teatime.

I wore my silver bracelets and my ring to go the Baltic, an old flour mill on the Tyne, next to the Millennium bridge. Granny liked them. I wore my gold silk trousers and the alpaca jumper you chose for me at the Lake District. Very comfortable. I liked the top floor restaurant with great view and enormous palm trees. When the lightning started to strike about us over the illuminated city (Gateshead, Newcastle) it reminded me of the Empire State building in Jeeves and Wooster and I didnít want to touch any metal but the seat, table and even part of the floor was made of it! My crab and sea bass was delicious

After 10 hours journey we are back home. On the M25 the traffic was slow over Heathrow and we could see the planes coming just above us. They were enormous.

T- thank you for the Halong Bay postcard. Hey, hang on, you didnít go to the only three places recommended by my book. Dalat, the most beautiful city, and Chen doc and Long Xugen, two peaceful villages. Surely more exotic than seeing big fat German girls on the beach. You can see them anywhere but you may have by passed the most enchanting place. It is good to see some monuments and also relax on the beach but also it is surely more important to immerse oneself into the local way of life a little to learn something of the country you are passing through?

J ñ I hope you find a job for a week as you can also learn a bit about NZ way of life and the people.

Thank you both for your detailed emails. I canít wait until you are both at home so we can fly from the nest and explore the world.

Love Mama