Weeds and Nantucket .

Back to find that the Rickety Old Farmhouse is still standing . Thanks to the gentle ministrations of the Cost Centres it is perhaps a little more rickety than it was before we left , but at least it is still standing. In our absence the garden has turned into a wilderness. Angus asks why no one bothered to deal with the weeds that are three feet tall and sprouting everywhere. '' What weeds ? " comes the reply . Naturally, there has been no sign of the electrician, plumber, builder or gutter repair man. The pool man has been, unexpectedly,  to replace a pump and has thoughtfully left a large pile of sand in the centre of the lawn . A day of phone calls beckons.

Nantucket was very beautiful, very hot and very crowded. It was also very expensive. Angus cannot believe our little yellow rental car is $249.95 per day plus tax . '' Surely , that's the rate for the week " he says to the man behind the desk . 

The inn we stayed at was divine . We know it was divine because the preppy young lady in white linen shorts and yellow Ralph Lauren shirt at reception told us it was divine . In fact she told us this five times . Twice at reception , once on the stairs, once on the landing and once again when we enter the room . In the space of thirty seconds we also learn that she has just graduated from Wellesley, has a passion for Japanese literature , has a boyfriend who's a Husky ( we're not quite sure whether being a Husky is good or bad so pass over this in silence ) and that the most spiritual moment in her life was spending a night on a sacred mountain in Kyoto. '' You'll find Malin and Goetz in the bathroom " she trills cheerfully, and mysteriously,  before disappearing out of the door. Malin and Goetz we are delighted to discover is not a form of woodworm but a brand of bathroom toiletry . " How divine "says ' the font ' carefully studying a bar of 'advanced hydration technology' soap.

Tomorrow the story of the inn run by the Addams Family on Route 1.