Our long weekend in Stratford started with another telephone call from a carer about Dad managing to fall out of bed despite having a bar fitted by Phillip last night (who I envy being so good at practical things). I went to Milton Tesco after seeing Mum's grave on the anniversary of her death four years ago, and got some supplies for Dad and us on our holiday. A little bit of a rush to get Tabitha and Amelia to the Cattery so Phyllis can look after them til Monday (we forgot the tablets for Tabitha!) and then off on our weekend break. And right into a traffic tailback from a fire on the A14...

Virginia and I had a long weekend in Stratford-on-Avon. We booked Tabitha and Amelia into the Jobil Cattery in Histon so not far from us, and booked ourselves into "Brook Lodge", a slightly more comfortable Bed and Breakfast place in Stratford. Jobil Cattery was adequate, perhaps a bit bare bones, but did for the weekend. True we didn't ask the cats their opinion! The journey didn't take long to get there, partly because all the service stations we tried to stop at for a bite to eat, and a comfort break, were closed as regards eateries. In the end we checked into the guest house, then had oversize plates of sandwiches at the Bell Inn in Shottery.

Adventure Convention held at Allesley Hotel in Coventry

I went to the 2004 Adventure Convention in Coventry, staying at the "Allesley Hotel". This is partly a social occasion to catch up with friends I see each year. Most of those there started with text adventures and some still produce them. Each year someone does a text adventure which is is used for the Megapoints Competition - the only time I play text adventures now. There is still life in text adventures - this year's game by David Hebblethwaite entitled "No Milk Today" was fresh and amusing. After a hunt through Coventry for a firewire cable I showed my efforts in the line of graphic adventures. Some there were inspired by how possible it is to do a game just using pictures from a digital camera. I look forward to what they may produce.