10-21 June

The sun rises, the sun sets, summer starts today and all is well with Burlington Bianca!

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Last Sunday my hosts were kind enough to invite me to join them at the annual fundraiser for the sister house in Rutland. It was just shy of a 300KM round trip. It was somewhat overcast and driving through the relatively mountainous region it was obvious why the state is called Vermont (pensez en francais!). Beautiful, calm and of course GREEN. Feels like it should be similar to the Lake District (if only I had been there to make the comparison!)

The fundraiser took the form of a dinner auction attended by a lot of local peeps - 300+. I resisted the "urge to splurge" - already I suspect I have acquired enough "stuff" to feed, shoe and entertain a small Ethiopian village. On Sept departure, I may yet bring new meaning to "elasticated sides" (suitcases, not trousers - although that too, we wait and see!). The most interesting part of the evening was a speaker who is a current house resident. He had never spoken in public before, so this was "trial by fire". He spoke eloquently and with emotion, and for me personified why I chose to support this organisation - it really makes a difference to people's lives, big time.

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This Sunday it was K's Mum's 75th birthday and I was delighted to be invited (along with a fellow resident) to help out with the logistics of keeping 75 peeps fed and watered, so to enable K, her Mum and family to fully enjoy their guests.

The party took place at K's home - a really lovely old/new house (long story!) in the most stunning location with a brook running between the back garden and paddock (she's horsey :O). We enjoyed wall-to-wall sunshine - if you ignore the 15 minutes of torrential rain! Our aprons (specially created for us by another artistically talented resident) were a big hit and a good time was had by all!