25-Mar to 31-Mar 2012

Sun 25-Mar: Popped down to the car boot sale at Burgess Hall this morning to see whether Becky and Beth had made their first £1m. Unfortunately not... in fact the count was one item sold (a Wallace and Gromit fridge magnet I donated for 50p), NINE items bought!!! These included several more toys for the kids and a pair of shoes for Beth. Treated to a tour of the stalls from Connor. On my return hovering in front of the girl's stall I realised this was attracting punters who thought I was an appreciative customer, so I hovered even more obviously making comments such as 'oh, that's really nice' and 'what a bargain!'

Mon 26-Mar: Having sown some parsnip seeds on wet kitchen towel to see if they'd germinate, more in hope than expectation, the seeds from one of the varieties have burst forth. Not sure what to do with them now! And if all the ones I planted on the allotment sprout I might find I've cornered the market in the world's supply. Just don't mention the number of lettuce we've got growing!

Tue 27-Mar: Here's a view I was hoping never to see again... the entrance to the Co-op Rainbow supermarket, a place of torment I've moaned about before. After a bad experience last week at the roast chicken counter Linda had vowed to try elsewhere. Tesco was favourite but since at Huntingdon we decided to try Waitrose in St Ives first. The prices were a bit of a fright, so there was a flurry of items being whipped out of the trolley by Linda as we headed to the checkout. Back we were at the Rainbow again to complete the shop. It'll be Tesco next week... if only I could make a convincing argument for doing the shop on line!

Wed 28-Mar: Yet another summer-like day with a cloudless blue sky, so off we went to visit Ely. Parked on the outskirts, wandered into and around the town, stopped off for coffee and cakes at the Cathedral's restaurant. After basking in the sun beside the marina lunched at the Street Cafe... very cheap (less than the coffee and cakes!), huge baked spud, very clean and tidy. Then off for an hour+ walk into the beautiful flat fenland countryside and back for another bask in the sun, ice cream in hand. The cathedral looked amazing... huge, with so much intricate carving. Unfortunately a bit steep at £14 entrance fee for the two of us.

Thu 29-Mar: Love is... risking life and limb to get a snap of your grandson's latest fixation. Bit of an exaggeration but in Connor's eyes I'm a hero. With a strong interest in anything historical he's been banging on for days about a 'castle' he saw in woodland on the outskirts of St Ives. So after the usual Thursday afternoon visit to the newsagents to stock up on fizzy drink and sweets Connor and Sammy decided they wanted to go find the castle rather than play football. After a couple of passes in the car, during which I couldn't see a thing but the boys were convinced they could see the castle, off we went to get closer by walking to The Thicket and across some fields. Arriving at the closest point nothing was visible so I decided to struggle through briars and bushes to take photos of anything that remotely looked like a castle. Didn't want the boys to get scratched and battle the undergrowth, so although OK to go I told them there were guard dogs and to sit on the grass and wait for me. Must have been about ten minutes... too long for Sammy who imagined me being savaged, the image assisted by loud barking from a nearby house. Connor calmed him down by playing paper, scissors, stone. The result? No sign of any castle. We headed for home, having fun rushing down some steep hills before exchanging tales of our worst accidents ever, me and Connor swapping feinting stories, Sammy building up his story of skinned knees in the playground. Culminated in my horrific tale of when I passed a man trimming his hedge and he accidentally cut my head off... cue the boys giving my neck a close examination for the scar where my head was sewed back on. And the precious photos I took? You can view them as well as a shot of the intrepid adventurers by clicking here.

Fri 30-Mar: Having previously mentioned that I've cornered the world market in parsnips and lettuce, here's the cucumber seeds suddenly bursting forth this evening. Now lets work out the maths... I've planted 5 seeds per pot and there are about 15 pots... let me see. No, don't help me! That's, errr, about 75 cucumber plants. Typically I'll get 10 cucumbers from each plant... wow, that's 750 cucumbers! Anyone for salad?

Sat 31-Mar: Izzy's birthday today, six years old already. Remember the day I donned my best suit and tie to walk down to Becky's and Barry's to meet her for the first time. Here she is on her new bike, just about to run me down. Had a great barbeque at her house, finishing off with all the males shooting a target with Chris' air gun in the back garden. In the background of this image is the new French window installed on Wednesday.