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Hello, Elle!
Lydia did do well.
I had a chuckle at the commentators saying she should try and replicate her golf swing that she had when a teenager.
Lydia is 20 years old!
Hardly old and past it.
Yes, family time is important.
Have you tried Skype?
I know folk who keep in touch with far flung relatives through Skype.
They all approve of it.

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, we do have Skype, but I do not really like it........I have a problem with it, as using it seems to trigger off a migraine attack.
So I tend just to rely on the telephone, email, and texting.
But I am in constant contact with my younger daughter anyway, as we speak every day on the phone - and she also sends me emails during the day!
She phones either in her lunch hour or /sometimes and / on her way home from work and we talk throughout her journey home!
So there is not really a problem!
It was just nice having the additional fact of Wednesdays!
But this was always only going to be transient...she always planned to go back fulltime when YB was a little older.
We have been spoiled in the interim!
Now, nearly time to phone my cousin...and hear the full story about her hand...she has been having a very hard time.

Hello, Elle!
I did not know you suffered with Skype/migraines.
Yes, you seem to be in very close regular contact with your daughter.
I think family is very important.
I occasionally get what my optometrist calls an "aural migraine", maybe once or twice a year.
She does not know why, but it is no problem anyway.
Yes, phone your cousin, I think it is your turn.

Hi, Rusty!
I've suffered from migraines since I was in my twenties.
Yes, mine are "aura" migraines........
I get a visual disturbance heralding the headaches, so if I take my medication immediately this happens, I can usually avert the headache.
Mine are always caused by some sort of "light" disturbance" - flashing lights, sunlight through trees, flickering light bulbs........ (and Skype cameras/ gadgets !)
I can often avoid it if I take care.
The meds work quickly , too, so it is perfectly manageable.
I think aura migraines are easier to manage, as at least one is forewarned.
My elder daughter gets migraines, but she does not have the type with the warning "auras", and goes straight into the crippling headaches.
A much worse scenario!
All well up North, apart from my cousins' hand!
She has a new plaster cast.

Hello, Elle!
After reading your experiences of aural migraines, I have decided I am very fortunate.
I only have the visual disturbances for about twenty minutes but I do not get pain.
I have no idea what brings them on though.
My optometrist told me she gets them as well.
I am sure I read somewhere that chocolate can be a trigger?
That's good all are well in the North!

A Very good morning to you, Rusty!
A dull, damp, but mildish day!
Not exactly inspiring!
Just home with a muddy dog!
Yes, you are quite right, certain foods can be a trigger for some migraines; I believe chocolate can be a cause for some people.
Hormonal changes ( in women) is another factor.
The Migraine Trust website is a good base for reliable information.
Fortunately my own migraines are simply restricted to "light" problems.
Not always within my power to avoid though!
I am drinking coffee, eating my apple and cheese..... and about to look at the crosswords.....
What do you have planned for your day?

Good morning, Elle!
Dull and dry here, so is the weather.
No plans today, maybe have a look at the young ones in the World Cycling Championships.
Of course, not a word in the press about it.
Cycling is not a popular sport in this country.
I have finished my puzzle.
Not too tricky I did not think?
I have not a clue how the parse in 21A works, though?

Hi, Rusty!
I have been letter -writing....well strictly speaking, emailing .......this morning!
I am catching up with a backlog of correspondence!
( It always seems to be "my" turn!)
Now 21 a........
This clue is a tad unfair, I think, to the non - Londoner, who could not be expected to know that Highgate has a well-known cemetery, where several famous people are buried.
The most famous of these being Karl Marx!
I think Highgate = cemetery = graveyard?
"earth tremors" = "shift"
Thereby giving "graveyard shift" = night work (def)
It works for me, anyway!
I am stuck in the bottom right-hand corner with three interlocking clues...
Perhaps if I could have help with 18a, it might enable me to solve the other two?
18A: Set of instructions for putting on weight (7)
PR??R??
We are having tantamount to April showers in mid September!

Hello, Elle!
You are a busy bee today!
Hang on.
The setter expects us to know Highgate (in London, you say?) has a cemetery?
Well there are several cemeteries in my home town and I would not dream of putting them in a clue, or expect folk to know them!
No, that clue is far too parochial for me.
I have not heard of Highgate, (we have several "gates" here, and "ports" into the city).
18, "for" is "pro", weight is "gram", giving "program" for "set of instructions".
Watched the junior women's time trial.
The young British girl with the very unusual name of Pfeiffer Georgi came seventh.
So, a good performance by her. Well done!

Hi, Rusty!
Perhaps the setter thought Karl Marx's presence - along with Christina Rossetti, Michel Faraday, Henry Moore, George Eliot and many other well-known persons whom I cannot remember - sufficient to make Highgate cemetery a "household name"?
I knew you would not like it........nor can I blame you!
I myself think it a very unfair clue!
Thank you for explaining 18a...... the spelling of "program" would have prohibited my getting it!
I have now done the other two clues that depended on some of its letters!
So all finished.
How is the cycling fairing?
Damp and grey out........but never-the-less I am now going to round up the troops (husband and dog) to go for a walk!