I can hear the sea calling......

Having loads of fun trying to pack for Sri Lanka - snorkels (I knew I carried them here for a reason), swimmers and lots of clothes of course, because I am a girl and I must have at least 3 possible outfits per day. I hope the fish and water there are more exciting than the fish pond at Northfield.....
The British Embassy has closed their British Council offices here, and so a whole load of furniture was up for auction on Friday. I went up there with some mates, and Buddhi from the hotel, on the lookout for mattresses, beds and wardrobes. There were some rather swish dining tables a friend of mine wanted, because all the stuff had been imported from the UK (the labels said British Foreign Service) and weren't the usual crappy plywood junk you can buy here. We all missed out but it was lots of fun - and one of the few times I have seen Nepali people queueing to get in (only 2 at a time were allowed through the front gate) and there were a few cartels operating and pooling their resources.Which probably kept a lot of people happy.

And now you see why I get such a good sleep every night on my very expensive Yusirong Pillow which contains 3 different sorts of swan feather if the advertising is to be believed. And yes, I do 'Feeling the natural and enjoy the health'. Thanks very much for asking.
We haven't had too much rain the last few days and when the sun comes out it is SOOO hot. It's been great for getting some laundry done before the trip - Brave Sir Robin thinks I am insane for doing all my own laundry when I am 'supposed to be on holiday'. But who is one shirt down since the laundry ripped a sleeve last week??? That's right, not me.
Yesterday I was Skyping a neighbour back home and giving them a tour of my balcony when they spotted my laundry drying in the sun and STEVE, yes you know who you are, asked if we were very high up because we could use the undies to parachute to safety if there was a fire. There's names for people like that. And they aren't very nice. Remember Steve, I know where you live.
Just to prove that some things never change here, the government recently introduced uniforms for all civil servants (who are often anything but civil) but of course most people pocketed the money (about $100) and carried on wearing whatever... as you see. I particularly like paragraph 2 about trying to bring uniformity into the uniforms. Whatever that means. I think my brain hurts.

Only 2 more sleeps till Colombo (assuming we make the very tight connection in Delhi). I'm really looking forward to the beach time, and having a day at the First Test Australia v Sri Lanka in Galle. There will be NO TREKKING and no CAMPING. But there will be a lot of relaxing.