Becki's first birthday!

Becki is one year old today. I can't believe it's a whole year since she was born! Paul and I gave her a pink tricycle for her birthday, which Gris wanted for her. It arrived on Friday and Gris said she loves it; she sits on it and smiles. She can't pedal it yet of course - her feet don't even reach the pedals - but it has a handle so that she can be pushed on it. This afternoon she was having a party of sorts. Some of Peter's family were coming over, along with Natasha, Becki's half-sister. It saddens me that I couldn't be there and that she is growing up without knowing me. I know she's only one now, but time passes.

Yesterday evening Paul and I went to a great party, celebrating the 30th wedding anniversary of a couple of friends. They had asked us to bring musical instruments and there was an opportunity for people to perform. There were a few members of Bang On! there so we did a 15-minute slot,playing three numbers. Later on P and T (members of Bang On!) did an Appalachian clog dance, then after an interlude of entertainment from other guests, T did some belly dancing - the first time she had ever performed it alone. It was brilliant; the dancing was good, but what really made it was the long wig (she has very short hair) that she wore and the way she used it to efffect.

After the entertainment slot was over, there was a ceilidh band. It was so warm yesterday evening though that few people wanted to dance. We sat out in the foyer and some impromptu musical performances started up out there. Paul did a few numbers. We left around midnight as the party was ending. There were a number of members of Silsden Singers (a local community choir) present, including Janet Russell, who leads them. Just before we left they did a beautiful rendition of Plovi Barko, a Croation song - one of my favourites from the time I was in Bradford Voices, a few years ago. I miss singing. I stopped going to Bradford Voices back in 2003 because I just didn't have time for it when I was doing all my coaching training. I meant to start attending Silsden Singers once my courses had ended. It's time to do that I think.

This afternoon we loaded up our cycle panniers and went for a practice ride to Ilkley and back. It was a lot easier than we had thought it would be and the trip took no longer than usual. Paul has never ridden with loaded panniers before and I have never ridden with both rear and front panniers. It's over 10 years since I did any cycle-touring at all. The bike feels very stable with both front and rear panniers and goes at one hell of a pace on the flat and downhill.

I am so glad that I made the decision to get rid of the drop handlebars and replace them with flats. It was worth spending all of that money in order to be able to enjoy cycling again.

We had another change of plan last weekend. Paul spent some time trying to book accommodation for our first two nights and discovered that July is very busy in Northern Spain - no vacancies. We have now bought a tent - a Vaude Taurus Lite, a surprisingly room y tent weighing only 1.9 kg. We also bought lightweight down sleeping bags.

We leave on Wednesday morning, very early. We have to be at the pick up point for around 6 a.m.