I had a lovely day on Sunday: Clare took me to a beaut restaurant called The Hungry Fox for lunch. However, it was the wettest, most horrible day you could imagine and we almost had a head-on collision while getting lost looking for Mr Fox's eatery. There were several tragic accidents as a result of the flooding. One young girl drowned in a fast flowing swollen river and a couple were washed off a jetty in Cornwall and drowned despite all efforts to save them. It was much nicer yesterday, though - today is quite sunny. However, more rain is on the way. Pity we can't send some of it to Oz.

Yesterday, I visited Exeter, which is a lovely, historic city, with little old churches nestling among modern shops. When I return from my trip to the northern counties (see below) I shall have a day walking around the churches and the magnificent cathedral. As is so often the case in this country, the roads were built in past centuries when nothing but the odd cart or herd of sheep would have been driven along them, so for modern traffic flows they are dangerously narrow. Some don't even have footpaths, which turns walking into an extreme sport.

On Thursday I will set off for a bit of tour of the northern parts of the country, which means another 10 hour journey, dammit! However, it will be great to catch up with the many e-cousins I've met through my family history researches and to see the ancestral stamping grounds. Time and money preclude my seeing all the places I'd like, so I'm going to cram as much as possible into three weeks!

My friend Diana in London dragged me along to a yoga class last week. I could hardly walk for two days afterwards so I'd better get back into it while I'm in Perth in May!