in the summer of 09

Final camping/fire party for youngest boy, high excitement as they return to last school year as upper 6th students on Thursday this week. Not too much drinking, or smoking, appears to have taken place, but loud singing, hugging, and possibly other close personal contact over which we old people can draw a veil. Not my responsibility.....! All alive and well (even could be described as cheery) on Sunday morning, and cooking up beefburgers for breakfast. Somewhere between 25 and 30 17 & 18 year olds off the streets for one evening anyway, deafening the neighbours with top 20 chart hits in the dark.

I would like all readers to know that we purchased our first Christmas 2009 gift yesterday during a trip to Lincoln. Be afraid, so organised its scary....

excellent guests

Today all Guests left their units really clean and lovely. The cleaning team skipped round, no-one got cross and hot, everyone happy and smiling, what a marvellous Saturday morning. Yippee! This is a rare event, and as such, even more appreciated.

Yellow horse being extremely good, and pups not eaten any shoes in last few days.

All this adds up to making me cheerful.

Youngest having about 30 for camping night outside tonight. I am thinking that by tomorrow morning 8am my habitual grumpy demeanor will have returned.....

who did that?

This puppy has no idea how my flip flop moved itself into the garden, nor how all the damage happened in the microsecond that my back was turned. Does that look like a guilty face?

a level results

sitting up 'til midnight with biggest boy for on line indication of a level results (the Uni of choice marks your application confirmed at one minute past midnight if results are good enough). Heading off with him to school in morning for results proper. Its all a bit tense....

my day off

Today, I leapt from my very comfortable bed at 4.55am to get youngest to a swimming pool for a swimming club assessment at 6am. We struggled into the car at 5.15am for the 45 minute drive. Assessment complete we headed home at 7am, cup of tea at 7.45am. Tiny lay down until 8.30am. Get car and horse trailer. Collect friends at 9.30am. Drive to Oakham (about 2 1/2 hrs dragging horse trailer). Watch her prospective purchase being vetted (1 1/2 hours). Get vile cup of machine coffee, and have a toilet break. Load new horse and drive him back for them from Oakham to Spilsby. Unload horse. Admire him. Pack up trailer and return home...now 4.10pm. Get quick cup of tea, half a bag of potato crisps, change cars and go to fetch youngest from maths tutor. Deliver bridle which I am lending to a friend on way back. Arrive home at 5.35pm. Tired, thirsty and hungry, and needing loo. 2 lovely nieces and my own father visiting. One niece cuts my two boys hair and other niece has a ride on Skipper. Turns out she complete novice and needs lovely Aunt to run around and around helping her learn to ride. Other niece, having successfully cut all hair in her path, turns up outside in field and also learns to ride yellow horse. More running around for red faced Aunt. Pack away yellow horse plaything to prevent Aunt collapsing with thirst, hunger and exhaustion, but before time for sustenance for Aunt (me), release niece's two cocker spaniels to play with and run with our two new puppies. Another 30 minutes elapse whilst we all enjoy their antics. Staggering now, make my way into kitchen to demand food. Youngest pushes off with two nieces/cousins to a party. Eldest comments that he too is hungry. Load myself into yet another vehicle and drive to nearest village for fast chinese takeaway. Its closed. Rush to fish and chip shop, it is closed but has few remains left on hot plate. Scoop up all in sight. Bring it home and consume it with unhealthy enthusiasm with biggest boy. Now 9pm. Finally made it to a loo break, got a gin in hand, and in approx 2 minutes will either fall off chair into deep coma, or totter up stairs for well earned rest. Looking forward to work tomorrow for the rest.

growing girls

Here are the pups, now about 14/15 weeks old (already stopped counting). Still biting and chewing, making muddy footprints all over and generally getting under everyone's feet. Nevertheless, great fun, very affectionate, and still proving a popular draw with visitors. Eating for England, obviously growing and learning that a sad eyed stare can bring most things that you want right to your nose.... Other photos are the screen on my lovely, and not very old, laptop. It will only start up in safe mode, normal starts bring a variety of screen, all involving many colours, sometimes looking like an inkblot, sometimes straight lines, but no discernable information. I took it to PC World where it started up like a dream (why, why?) and received a bit of advice. As a result I went home and mistakenly took it back to factory settings (oops) thereby losing EVERYTHING! This has not cured the problem. Still only starts in safe mode. THese snaps of the screen are for the next time I can drag up enthusiasm to visit PC World (or hell freezes over). I have bought a new laptop, but it doesn't seem able to load the photos onto the blog (why, why?) and is sssllllooow. AGain, I have no idea why, its a perfectly standard, new machine with normal drives and memory quota. Its like it is being strangled. I have spent some time on the phone to the internet provider but it hasn't improved matters. Once again I feel like a caveman wandering about in a dark and cobweb strewn cave, with no light glimmering through. Hoping for a miracle for both laptops (or my technical know-how - that really would be miraculous).

Back to the salt mine. This week have at least 4 units occupied by the grubbiest, stickiest, dirtiest guests you could ever wish had avoided your establishment. They have all booked again for next season (deepest joy) but I shall be delighted to cancel those holidays and send back the deposit if the units are left in the condition we are anticipating. Dreading Saturday changeover, and have recruited all able bodied men, women and children to be on standby in case extra help needed with those glorious toilets and wet mattresses. Weather being kind (mostly) guests all happy in sunshine, and not long until children return to school, so not all bad!

Family get-together

here's John, at family BBQ on Sunday evening. We were going to have a huge, social evening, but it seemed too hard, tired after Saturday and Sunday, and wanted to go to local Revesby show. Therefore, settled for lovely nieces, nephews, brother and sisters etc and all got thoroughly cheerful around fire. Still tired, but recovering. Photos don't seem to be loading properly, don.t know why, will try again tomorrow.