Family frolics

Last weekend we played host in our Manchester flat to Andy's dad, mum and brother and my brother and sister in-law. Wow! A busy but really fun weekend. Andy's dad is in a professional choir and we watched him sing (in Russian!) at the beautiful Bridgewater Hall on Saturday, after a day out exploring Manchester city centre (including a ride on the Manchester wheel - the view and Simon, Andy's bro, pictured above). Sunday we pottered around Liverpool and nosed around the Tate for a bit. Sunday night I stayed up til 2 am gabbing with my brother. The two of us are a deadly combination for all night talking!

The weekend made us realise what an incredible bonus it is to be near family again. Well, the same country at least! Though our pangs for New York are still very much with us, for me nothing can compare to being able to sit up with your brother putting the world to rights late into the night.

This weekend we're bringing some of America to Manchester by throwing our northern friends a Thanksgiving day! Watch this space to see how many people we can cram into our living room...