With Natty in November. It's always Nat who gets thrust into my arms. Nat takes after his dad, and Theo takes after his mum (my cousin). They're about 5 months old now and really active, learning to turn. Nat kicks, wriggles and sneezes (I have bruises and a cold right now from last week's visit.)

See? Olivia and Christopher playing in the garden at Kingston, 1980. 

Speaking of babies, on the left there is my oldest friend and fellow-preemie Christopher, graduating from Cambridge way back whenever (that's his brother Matthew on the right)...Our Mums met in the maternity ward at Queen Charlotte's Hospital and have been firm friends ever since. 

If I put Michelle's pic up she will kill me, so here is my cousin-in-law Tony, their son Zack, and one of the twins. M & T have been together for over 10 years. They tried hard for Zack (who is now 4), and then after a miscarriage, got hit with twins. All without IVF. 

Cousin Michelle and Tony's new twins Theodore and Nathaniel in September. 

Serenaded on the train to Venice. They were tuneros from the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain on a tour of Europe. I must say, my name sits well in Spanish songs. 

Shiho and me at a restaurant in Verona, Italy, where we and another friend enjoyed 4 nights of opera and good wine. 

Dad and me cracking crab shells at Mum's apartment in Dallas. He came up from Houston to see me before I returned to London. After dinner we had a treat of baklava, visible on the table in front of me. 

Gorgeous dinner at Terry & Johanna's house. L-R: Pierre, Mum, Aunty Rita, Terry, and Jo. They've been together 10 years and finally tied the knot last summer. 

Some of my boy-cousins. On the left, Paul (15) & Mike (24) - Aunt Eve's sons. On the right, Pierre (37) and Terry (33) - Aunt Rita's sons. 

Aunt Eve and me ringing in 2005 at One99. We'd had a sherry aperitif, two bottles of Riesling, and champagne. I don't like champers so I was fine and so was Mum. But Aunt Rita got tipsy and Aunt Eve got drunk and said the funniest things to Uncle Tom in the car on the way home. 

Mum and Aunt Rita. Four of us went to the swish new One99 restaurant in Orangeville, Ontario. (It means 199 Broadway, NOT $1.99 as Mum had joked early on.) We celebrated New Year's Eve there with a 7-course meal. Even the mayor was there. It was like a huge dinner party with all courses timed and served like clockwork. 

My darling J-Jay in Canada. We got pretty snowed in during Christmas and it dropped to -minus 30 or 40. He's an American Eskimo sled dog and would make his outdoor trips as short as possible. 

Funny how they all look alike except for the youngest 

Evadney with Hannah who is now 4 

Me, Mum, Dad at the restaurant in Dallas with my cousins - we were tired, cold and hungry with the drive up from Houston. 

Compare to the sleeker trams of the Houston METRO system, just like the ones in Montpellier, France. Downtown Houston has also always had free San Francisco-style trolleys (on wheels without the rails). 

This is what the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) trains look like. Just like the DART buses! 

Gigi and me messing about at the new train stop in Old Town Plano, Texas 

Look, my very own lane at the Legacy Drive center! 

Gigi and me at the new Legacy Drive shopping center in Plano, Texas - in November 

My Dallas cousins. Back row, Stan and Evadney with kids and me. Front row, Charlene and Amber.  

Some of my friends from uni I met up with in Houston last December. L-R: Michael, Diana, Jason, Chris 

Harewood House, Yorkshire, home of the Earl of H, of the Lascelles family. Relatively new fortunes made in the Indian colonies a couple hundred years ago. This house is Neoclassical. 

Some frontage of Longford Castle. Seriously, there was dry-cleaning hanging in the hall, a shopping list on the hall table, muddy boots and bicycles on the front porch.