St Bliss, Cornwall

Children, I have to report that it is BLISS here in St Ives, and that my geniusly-chosen holiday house is even MORE wonderful than it looked on the dear old internet. We have two more girlies coming to join us this evening, who will be arriving all by themselves on a train from London. We will walk to the station to meet them and stop for fish & chips on the way home. I won't be able to have any, of course. I may make them eat in the garden so I'm not tormented by the smell of chips.

I am still galled - that is, tired and stupid with a gyppy tummy & circles under my eyes - and I still can't eat the food (trust me: being followed everywhere by a wafting aroma of fresh hot pasties is not pleasant if you're on a no-fat diet! And one can only prepare one's moral strength for the chips ordeal to come) - but the sea air is already refreshing one's more baroque parts, and the house is so adorable, with its tiny cast-iron fireplaces and sweet wooden cupboards, that the raptures will go on and on. Even the pictures on the walls are nice. The top of the house has a cupola with a window seat in blue checked cloth and a three-sided view of pure curly blue-green ocean. This room has two cosy mattresses on the floor and is a perfect eyrie for the three girls (aided by a sleeping bag from home). It even has a telly!

Our house is a lovely whitewashed villa set at the top of a load of stairs on the edge of a hill, so it's all stairs from top to bottom - and, after the slate-tiled patio, the back garden runs at about 100°, with a handmade stone staircase about eight inches wide which I have forbidden a crestfallen Mlle B even to think about climbing.

The Urban Warrior phoned yesterday when we were on the train to say that his (is-she-or-isn't-she) girlfriend has gone on the internet and found some crazy overnight trains which will only cost them the same as if they had come on my Family Railcard, so they are going to come down the hard way, for two days. Remember being 17 and travelling overnight and sitting in dark, cold stations at 6am just to save £30? They'll treasure this for the rest of their lives. Imagine their joy when they arrive and find the place cluttered with girls, girly accoutrements and romantic comedy DVDs, and discover that it's a no smoking house!

On the plus side: I have discovered a fish restaurant where you order the kind you want, and tell them how to cook it. I can eat there!

Also: the water is so soft. My skin is softer already!

Also: ermmm... nothing. I love it here! People who travel the whole time can never know this happiness.