This past week

Whilst on holiday in Malta we heard the sad news our Queen had died immediately on tv and frequently watched updates as the Nation mourned.  We saw King Charles 3rd take on the role of Monarch and heard his first speech to us all.   Like many others, we have felt sad and emotional at times.

Back at home we have continued to watch the news coverage as the Queen lies in state.  

We have also been in the garden a lot, it has recovered incredibly well from the UK heatwave of a few weeks ago. The sunflower seed heads are drying to feed the birds in the Winter.  There were so many tomatoes, I am ripening some  on the fence as its got cooler the last few days.

My lemon trees have produced so much fruit!

Whilst we were away the allotment flourished - I will be up there on my days off weeding and watering.

Malta is quite beautiful, although we found it too hot for much sightseeing at around 90f and used a little motorised 8 seater guided tour on our day trip to Valetta as the streets are steep, narrow and hot!

We stayed in Sliema and took the ferry to Valetta.    The Baroque  style city of Valetta was originally built by the Knights Hospitaller in 16th Century.  It was intended as a fortress with streets built on a grid system, the earliest buildings were designed by the Italian architect Lucca.   In the 17th century balconies became popular/were added and many of the streets feature these beautiful, brightly painted, wooden balconies with sculptures and decorations on the support posts.   Valetta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The beautiful old, balconied, houses are still lived in today.   Houseowners who keep and maintain the balconies are rewarded by the Government.  ( Valletta - Wikipedia)

Sliema was originally a small fishing village,  increasing in size in the 18th century with more of those fabulous balconied houses seen in Valetta.  The name Sliema means Peace/Comfort.  there are churches here in abundance.  The harbour is particularly pretty at night when the lights are on and the boats are bobbing on the waterfront.  The beach is rocky although at St Julians Bay further along there is a small sandy beach.

We stayed at the AX Victoria hotel, Sliema, and were upgraded to a huge room in their sister hotel, The Palace with an endless balcony and views of rooftops stretching to the sea and a lovely pool and sunbed area.  The hotel arranged  for our half board buffet dinners to upgrade and transfer to their Asian restaurant, Temptasion,  the food was fabulous (we mostly ate vegetarian Indian meals such as curried chick peas, tofu and vegetable curry, samosas).  We were very lucky the hotel was not at full capacity and they generously offered these upgrades as goodwill.

Lunches were mostly french bread, cheese, ripe vine tomatoes and olives purchased at the nearby supermarket and eaten on our lovely long balcony.

Cocktails were a regular feature in the afternoons when there was a happy hour!

We had a lovely time but are glad to be home.