The parents announced they wanted to come for lunch; the only grandchildren they hadn't seen over the festive season were mine, so...

Off we went to the supermarket for fennel and plundered Rick Stein's recent Mexican cook book for a chicken / fennel / paprika / chilli / zatar thing and some more of the pineapple and ginger meringues (see extra for the smoking / smoldering prep).

A good afternoon; a lot of chat about house prep / moving next month and then they were off. 

And then - they also packed up and shipped out; back to their mum ahead of my return to work. I headed up into town for dinner - took a while but an enjoyable Sunday roast type thing and finally some semblance of normality as I rode home in the gloom around 10.