Hi Giok, andy and mr H - thank you all for your comments, i hope i get to meet with you. that Nantwich one is very enticing - i have started the process of getting quotes for airfares, and also am running around getting some documents that my daughter needs for her visa extension, going from office to office dealing with sometimes particularly unhelpful bureaucrats.

in the meantime i have an extra two cats to babysit - my neighbour (a muso) is off gigging until monday. i've started thinking about my cat delly and how she's going to cope without me.

i won't finalise airfares for a few days, after that i'll start plotting the trip in greater detail!

freda