Our arrival in Piura has been overshadowed by very sad news from back home. We have just heard that our dear friend and neighbour Janet has lost her battle against cancer and has passed away in Saint Gemma's hospice in Leeds.

When we first viewed our house, it was Janet’s friendly welcome that contributed so substantially to our making the choice to live there. We have never regretted that move and Janet quickly become an integral part of our extended family. She was always a lively and ever-present character in our street, frequently at the core of the social life of our little community of houses, by encouraging impromptu parties, both indoors and in the street itself. Summer evenings are unlikely to be quite the same again and she will be sadly missed by us all.

Her health problems had been diagnosed just before we left on our journey and we seriously considered delaying our trip. Originally, she had planned to join us in Buenos Aires, where she wanted to learn to tango. Although this was now impossible, she encouraged us to keep to our plans and during our travels she told us how much she had enjoyed following our exploits. Despite the doctors’ pessimism, she continued to fight bravely and we were beginning to have high hopes that we would meet up with her once again on our return in just ten days.

Sadly this will not be but we will always hold the very fondest memories of her deep in our hearts. Our thanks particularly go to Brenda, Ann and Eric amongst all those who have been helping Janet and to the staff of Saint Gemma's for making her last days as restful as possible. 

We have been travelling the world but it has truly become a bit emptier today.