Jeff asked me what this means:

grazzi hafna talli gejtu

It’s a private joke between my inlaws and me.

After we got married in Jamaica, G’s mum laid on a surprise party and invited half of Malta (think: My Big Fat Greek Wedding with the groom completely overwhelmed by the meditteranean family-centric culture) . My lovely new wife abandonded me with 6 bottles of red wine and my brother-in-law who helped me rehearse some choice phrase in Maltese for my speech.

I was taken around to every table, three-quarters pished, to express my gratitude and the only phrase that I could confidently say was ‘grazzi hafna talli gejtu’ - ‘thank you for coming’.

Ever since then I have said ‘grazzi hafna talli gejtu’ whenever a phrase of Maltese is required - no matter how inappropriate the circumstances.

Would you like a cup of tea? Grazzi hafna talli gejtu.

How are you feeling? Grazzi hafna talli gejtu.

The highlight of the evening was my brother in-law teaching me how to say ‘I am pissed as a fart’ in Maltese just before I made my speech which I concluded by announcing ‘you are all very naughty’ … except the word I chose for ‘naughty’ was closer to ‘wicked’ (and not in the good sense).

To this very day, if I set foot in Malta, strangers will come up to me on the street and say

“So, Kevin, you think I am wicked?”

My wife’s sister’s husband’s nephew has miraculously recovered from devastating liver failure.

Dr Dhawan, who is leading research into whether liver cell injections can replace transplants, said: “There was a 90 per cent plus chance that he wasn’t going to survive without a liver transplant. But he survived.

The only possible explanation for his survival is that

A glove that had touched the body of the priest was placed on the boy by his parents, both devout Catholics, as he lay in a critical condition in King’s College hospital nearly six years ago.

You can read all about it in The Daily Telegraph.

My wife’s family will be having dinner with the pope at Blessed George’s canonization celebrations.

The “miracle cure” has been declared genuine by the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI will canonise Blessed George in Rome in 11 days’ time.

Hey, Dorienne, be sure to tell il papa “grazzi hafna talli gejtu” from me!