Always awake by 630am! I think it’s the light. Had a message from Daisy later to say she was on her way to ExpressTest at Heathrow for her Fit to Fly test. She was a bit nervous, it being the first time she’s had one that wasn’t self administered, however, she rang back to say it was absolutely fine. Apparently they are using new larger swabs that don’t have to go quite so far up the nose. She was laughing to see a couple heavily masked and in full hazmat suits dragging their luggage towards check-in!!!!! Wonder where they were off to…..

Bob finished off the first coat on the remaining 3 kitchen chairs and I vacuumed through the upstairs and shut all the doors. We had a phone call from Tesco Mar to say they will be fitting our new front doors tomorrow and there is bound to be a bit (!!) of dust. The hallway is very open up into the top floor – double storey really and the downstairs is very open plan. I can’t do much about the downstairs other than shut the kitchen door but I hope to minimise any dust going upwards if I can.

Sunny, breezy and 28C today. Apparently the slight risk of catching the edge of a thunderstorm this afternoon but I doubt we will get it. No rain forecast anyway. I had a message from Habibi, our lovely gardener, to say he and the family had made it back from Pakistan and were now in 14 days strict quarantine. He got stuck there for a week while flights were being cancelled and re-arranged. Will be glad to see him again after 2 years. He’s been keeping our garden very well.

Nice lazy afternoon around the pool and reading. I have hundreds of my old books out here and it is such a pleasure always to read them again. I know I’ve got my Kindle with literally hundreds of books on that, but out here I have some old favourites I have been reading since I was a teenager – Ngaio Marsh, Patricia Wentworth, Daphne Du Maurier. Even some Georgette Heyer!!!!

When I came in about 430, Bob was very excited. He’d just checked and our Temporary Residency Visas had been approved. 1 year each which was £46 including tax. That was so quick. We paid up online (used our own credit cards this time, no problem) and downloaded the visas for printing.

Nice long zoom call with Stuart and Fi at g&t time (for us). Dinner on the terrace and then catch up tv.