Sunny Southampton (for once)

Today, my friends Heidi and Caroline hopped on a train from Bristol and London respectively, to spend the day with me in Southampton - how lovely. This would be the last time they could (face the) travel to see me as they are both around 25 weeks pregnant, and therefore battening down the hatches for the joys of the third trimester shortly. [For those interested: Heidi is almost certainly having a girl and Caroline knows the sex but is not telling... spoil sport!]

Luckily for everyone, especially little William (nearly 2) who likes to run around a lot, it was baking hot and sunny, and we could enjoy what little open space there is by the water in Southampton. Two big cruise ships were in berth (Norwegian Jade and the QM2) which was good entertainment for a while and we managed to sit down for a few minutes to enjoy a coffee at the Royal Thai Pavillion with their fancy sun terrace overlooking the park.

Floating IKEA... yep really... oh OK no not really... but I fooled my party with that line for a while.. its the Isle of Wight ferry daubed in IKEA colours to celebrate the opening of our new IKEA store which is just to the left of this picture. The QM2 is in the background.