DEAR DANNYMATT

By now you will have had the girls for a full day and no doubt are getting to know their personalities and habits. I really hope they are not causing too much trouble and that they will in fact learn from your two as role models. Watch Lily - she is the one most likely to have an accident and she can get a bit grumpy at times - so if there's any growling feel free to flatten her!

Seeing your photos was wonderfully reassuring - both girls look fine! They actually look so alike that we've argued about who is who. And they certainly look like big grown up Westies.

You cannot possibly imagine how grateful we are. I miss them more than I ever thought possible, but am totally reassured by the thought that they are with you and your girls.


It's hard to believe that we have only been away from them for a week. (Yesterday I was talking to a guy in the hotel about our predicament and found myself telling him that I couldn't wait to get back to my two little 'dawgs'! James nearly disowned me and told me to pull myself together sharpish.

The fiasco last night is still preying on our minds. Initially, when the flight came up, I had huge concerns. How could that flight get away when all others were cancelled? The hanging around at JFK was mind numbing and infuriating because of the appalling communication and falling at the very final hurdle was just the icing on the cake. But we DID try and now we can do no more than hope that the flight we have booked for Monday gets away.

We're now left wondering what to do for the next couple of days. This may sound strange but we've crammed so many things into the time we've had that we have pretty much exhausted all that we wanted to do. Added to that, after a week of fabulous weather there has been a change for the worse and it certainly isn't conducive to sightseeing today. As I type Charles and James are scoffing breakfast coffee and doughnuts, lying on the bed watching the Man Utd / Man City match so they're okay for a while!

 I'm going to Borders, which is just over the road, to buy a copy of a book entitled 'The Mole People' about New York's thousands of homeless.

We were talking to the bartender last night and he told me about it, explaining that there are so many thousands living beneath Penn station (as well as many other locations too of course).

On Tuesday morning I went outside the hotel  and came face to face with a line of hundreds waiting for the church soup kitchen to open. It was a stark reminder of the reality of life for so many people and contrasted hugely with the perfectly coiffed and manicured women we saw later that day going for their appointments in the 5th Avenue designer boutiques.

Okay - I'm going to get my 'cawfee' now. Will write again later - and please give the girls big, big hugs from their real mummy!!