Cramming it all in

We're back in the UK for our annual trip, and working hard to cram it all in. Last year we came for a month, which was indulgent, and not entirely successful: we couldn't take holiday for that whole time, which meant doing a slightly poor job of keeping up with work and of catching up with friends and family at the same time. This year we are here for just two weeks, which in theory means better quality time, if less of it.

So far, so good. Within 12 hours of landing I had eaten more cheese than in the previous 12 months. Cheddar, stilton: quite a reunion we had. Within 24 hours of arriving at our first base camp we had caught up with a dozen friends and their children, done a fair amount of reminiscing, and drank a solid volume of Pimms. The next day we packed up and headed north.

And within a day of arriving in Saltburn, Lady P has played - joyfully, I might add - with 4 out of her 6 cousins, seen several steam trains, and more cows and sheep than she could even imagine. Certainly we could go a long time in Hermosa Beach without seeing so much livestock, so many steam-powered vehicles, not to mention so many family members. She is beside herself, and so am I.

Skipping through a tunnel with cousins and aunts 

Grosmont station

We are only a few days into our trip and loving the quality, and the extra intensity of this year's experience. Only one thing may not - ever - be compressed: the time it takes a wash to dry, on a clothes horse by the radiator, on a wet day in May.

We definitely will have a brilliant time up here. But will the clothes I washed today be dry before we leave Saltburn? I will keep you posted.