Just before I went away, I acquired a new laptop for work use.  Ever-increasing security concerns meant that we were no longer able to use our own machines for local government purposes and emails sent to my work address would have to be read and replied to using the new laptop.  It was very secure, with numerous log in screens and ever changing passwords.

So secure, it wouldn’t let me in!

This morning, I collected it from the place where bad laptops go for correction and rehab and hopefully, it will now stop giving me some message about non-compliance.  Of course, it will also now take me at least twice as long to collect and reply to my emails as it used to but then, that’s progress.

Not that I’m against progress, of course.  Tomorrow, we’re going to see Prince Igor live fromthe Met – but we’ll not be at the Met, of course.  Actually, we’re going to the cinema in Cheltenham which is a little easier to get to on a Saturday afternoon (even if sadly, we can’t meet up afterwards, Jordi).  Isn’t it wonderful that such a performance can be opened up to a world wide audience?  We’ve been slow to catch onto these live HD performances but are very much looking forward to meeting up with friends for a bit of culture too.

I’ve been working on my travel journal this last week and made such good progress, I’ve finished it!

I managed to keep it going until almost the end of our cruise, actually, completing each day fairly easily whilst we were on the move.  But once we’d got to Ecuador, the stories were coming thick and fast and I couldn’t keep up.

It’s always a dilemma.  I don’t really aim to create a masterpiece but simply to record the everyday occurrences which make me smile and which make the days special, in a fun and colourful way.  I find that I need to record all the bits as they happen, there and then, however, or else I forget them. 

So, I  keep a notebook in my pocket or my bag the whole time and scribble things down wherever I go.  That’s where I write down the names and the small reminders which will help me put my journal together when I’m ready.

Like the word “windly”, which is how our guide Walter (or was it Hualta?) described the weather one day.  Sweet, n’est-ce pas?

Speaking of sweet, it was fun to play with the Clover Pompom makers the other evening when I kept our small friends company for a couple of hours.  Much easier than the old cardboard circle method I’m sure.

In no time at all we’d used up every scrap of wool we could find and made a family of pompoms because it seems that, no sooner had we created pompoms of different sizes, the anthropomorphism kicked in. 

(Beware the naughty little pompom, then, because it’s a bit of a rascal, I can tell you!)

So now, I’m ready to progress onto the next thing.  Will it be the traveller’s blanket which I think I might base on some of the lovely patterns and motifs we came across on our travels?  Or will I open up the Silhouette rubber stamping stuff I had for Christmas and which I’ve not had time to play with yet?  Come to think of it, I’ve not opened up my Gelli plate yet either – who knows, I might combine all three ideas and create a storm next week!

Oh, and today, I’m thinking of our friends who continued on the ship after we disembarked in Lima.  They will have reached Buenos Aires today and most will be making their way home soon, if not already. 

It seems an age since we left them to go to Machu Picchu.