Dear Liam and Francesca,

Wasn’t it hot today! Grandma and I did some work in the garden today, mowing the lawn and digging some of the borders. I also picked another 19 tomatoes today. There’s quite a few more left on the plants but these are not growing very well. I think that it was a bit too dry while we were away and they’ve withered quite a lot. Still, there was nothing we could do about that. If you had still been living at number 5, you could have come up and watered them for us but it’s probably a long way from where you’re living now.

I’ve got a bit more work done on my novel today and have had a blow on the baryton, ready for our gig at the weekend. We’re playing at Finchley Nurseries on Sunday.

Sleep tight my dears,
We love you lots,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

Hope you’re well today. It’s been another nice day, hasn’t it? Grandma and I have been busy getting back to normal after the holidays. We’re still washing and ironing. I’ve been working on my novel again today. I’m hoping to get it finished very soon so a few of my friends can read it for me.

Last night, we watched a video called Underground which was about Bosnia when it was still part of Yugoslavia. It was really interesting and had a song in it called Mesecina which the Trans-Siberian March Band plays. It was great to hear it played in the film.

We finished off the last of Grandma’s birthday cake today so we’ll need to start slimming again tomorrow. It’s a Bank Holiday tomorrow and we wonder what you’ll be doing. We hope that you’ll be going somewhere nice.

We’ll be thinking of you, that’s for sure.
Keep looking after each other,
Lots and lots and lots of Love from,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

It was Grandma’s birthday today. I guess nobody told you. We missed you a lot today and couldn’t stop thinking about you. It was a nice day, though because your Cousin Thomas came with Uncle Joachim and Auntie Juliet. We all went out to dinner and then came home and sang Happy Birthday to Grandma and had some birthday cake. I ate a specially big piece just for you two so I hope that you didn’t feel to hungry today. Grandma said that I always eat a big piece anyway.

Grandma had quite a few phone calls today, two from Germany, Tante Else and Thomas as well as one from your Aunty Anne.

Thomas played with the Lego and made some nice things with it. It reminded me of when you two were here as he used both the large and the small Lego. Thomas also had a new DVD of Dr Who and we watched the first episode of it. It would have been nice if both of you could have been here and watched the DVD with us. Although, Liam might have been a bit frightened of it.

We hope you’re sleeping tightly now,
We’ll talk to you in the morning,
Heaps and heaps of love from us,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

Today when I went out into the garden, I was surprised to see so many ripe tomatoes. Altogether I picked 27 and there’s a lot which will be ready soon. There were six big ones and the rest small. I ate quite a few of the small ones tonight and they were lovely.

We’ve been unpacking today and washing clothes that we took on holiday. It’s quite a lot of work when you get back, isn’t it. Also I’ve done a bit of work on my novel and Grandma’s been out shopping to fill the fridge up. She didn’t have to buy any tomatoes, though, as we’d picked them from your vegetable garden this morning.

Sleep tight my dears and talk to you tomorrow,

Lots and Lots of Love from,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

We’ve just got back home and it seems strange that this morning, we were walking around Sarajevo. It was a really nice day there very sunny and hot. We walked through the old quarter where they do the metalwork and we watched on man making a copper plate. he knew all the pattern by heart and it took him four days to make just one plate, hammering out the pattern on this. When he’d finished he sold it in his shop. It’s very hard work making a living like that, isn’t it!

We then travelled to the airport and flew to Cologne in Germany where we had to wait for three hours for the next flight to London. It was OK as we both had a good book to read and it didn’t seem too long.

Now we’re back at home and have to get back to our normal routines tomorrow. That will take some doing. Although we were away, we didn’t stop thinking of you and saw lots of children with their Grandparents which reminded us how much we miss you. Hopefully, soon we will be able to see you again,

Look after each other,
All our Love,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

Today has been another sightseeing day in Sarajevo. We went to a Sephardic Synagoue this morning. That’s a sort of Jewish church for people who came to Sarajevo from Spain and Portugal hundreds of years ago. It is a really lovely buildingn all made of stone and it was very peaceful inside. There was a display which told you all the history of the Jewish people who’d lived in Sarajevo over the years.

In the evening, we went up to the Brewery with some band members. There’s only six of us left in Sarajevo, the others have gone home already. It was very nice, having that last little get-together before we all go home tomorrow.

We’ll keep you posted about our travels,
Talk to you tomorrow,
Love,
Grandma and Grandad xxxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

Today we did some more sightseeing in Sarajevo and walked right up the hill on the other side of the river. We walked through a great big cemetary and could see into the next valley. It is really very mountainous in Bosnia. The area where Bosnia is is called the Balkans and the word ‘Balkan’ means wooded mountains in Turkish. The whole of the area is made up of very high mountains and deep valleys.

In the afternoon we walked over to the brewery and the went to the National Museum by tram. That was quite a nice little museum. It had some archaeology in it as well as geology, natural history, with all the animals and plants from the area. It was the sort of museum you two would have liked. We then went back by tram. I’m sure that you would like the trams there because after the war ended, they’d got no trams left and all the countries in Europe gave them their old trams. Because of this, every one you see is different from the last. It’s very interesting.

We’ll update you tomorrow again, until then,
Look after yourselves,
Lots and lots and lots of love from
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

We’ve been doing some sightseeing in Sarajevo as well as playing and one of the places we went to was the Tunnel. This was a tunnel under the runway at the airport. They built it a few years ago when there was a war in Bosnia and they had to get all the food for the city through this tunnel. It was quite narrow and not very high. In some places, you had to bend down to walk through it. Just imagine, a great big city like Sarajevo and all the food, flour to make bread, meat, vegetables, everything had to be carried through that tunnel on peoples’ backs.

Quite a few band members went on this trip and it was nice to be able to see it all together. On the way back, we came back into the city over a mountain and were able to stop and take some really nice pictures.

We’ll keep you informed about our adventures in Bosnia tomorrow,
Till then, Tons and Tons of Love from us,
Your Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

Tonight we played in a Turkish bar in Sarajevo. We started playing at the fountain in Sebilj Square. This was first built in 1753 in in a place called Bascarsija and then moved to here. A lot of the local people call this pigeon square because there’s hundreds of pigeons live there. We played on the steps of the fountain and then marched down to the bar where we played.

The chap who owned ithe is Turkish and he knew a lot of the tunes that we played so he sang them for us. It was a really great night. When we had a break, a lot of the people who were listening wandered off but we soon got another big audience when we started playing again. It was a hot night and all the windows were open so people heard us and just came in. Soon after we started playing again, we were asked to stop for a bit as we were disturbing their prayers in the nearby Mosque so we had to have another break.

When we started again, we got a really good audience and it was a great gig. After we’d finished playing, we went downstairs in the bar and danced to the music for quite a time. In the end, we actually got your Grandma dancing! I bet you’d have liked to see that, eh?

I’ll keep you in touch again tomorrow,
Till then,
All our Love from,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

We were staying in Sarajevo today but played in Mostar tonight. We booked a couple of taxis to take us up to Maglej and decided to have a bit of a day out on the way. Kath had heard about some ancient sites which had been found on the way there so we decided to stop off and take a look.

The first site was a set of tunnels which they believe had been dug many thousands of years ago. They went a long, long way underground and there were other tunnels leading off of them. Also there were chambers which had been dug out in the tunnels, some around great big rocks.

The second site was way, way out in the countryside and high up on a mountain. It was really interesting going up there to see the real countryside of Bosnia. However, the so-called ‘monument’ was disappointing. I believe that it wasn’t made by people but was just ordinarry rocks. They called it a pyramid but I think that it was just a mountain. It would be interesting to see what my old professor of geology would have said about it.

In the evening, we played at the same bar as last year but it wasn’t such a big audience. The place was full but last year, people were standing all around listening. Today was the second day of Ramadan, a Muslim festival so perhaps that was why there weren’t so many people listening. It was quite late when we got back so you will both be wrapped up warm in bed by now so,

Sleep tight,
See you tomorrow,
Love Grandma and Grandad xxxx