01-Apr to 07-Apr 2012

Sun 01-Apr: With Beth off for a holiday next week in the Lake District her 30th birthday party was held early, so we all gathered at Slepe Hall for lunch today. John was there, Chris' grandparents and all the usual crowd. Chris had intended it as a surprise, but as usual Beth sneaked a look on his mobile to spot what was being planned.

Mon 02-Apr: Off to Cambridge this afternoon for a bit of window shopping, tea eaten by the Camb and an evening show of Bette and Joan at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. Play disappointing, consisting mainly of monologues by each actress on their relationship, the film and men in their lives. Another modern play relying too much on swear words to bolster up weak humour, though Anita Dobson was excellent. And to cap it all the play overran and we missed the 22:05 bus home. Caught the 23:05 along with several weirdos, not asleep until 12:30... zzzzzzzzzzzz

Tue 03-Apr: Looking after Connor and Paige this morning, so after tramping around Monks Wood with a games session of tig, statues and piggy in the middle included we returned home to lunch and a bash at The Game of Life, quite the most complicated game I've ever played. Paige was banker, here she is handing out money to Connor. After 45 minutes skirting around the rules, changing things several times, we counted out who had the most money and Paige was way out in front... thank goodness!

Wed 04-Apr: Trudy and Sarah arrived yesterday for a few day's visit. Here we are this evening out for dinner at The Dolphin with a table overlooking the meadow watching the swans settle down for the night, just about to tuck in to a delicious meal.

Thu 05-Apr: Here we are on the guided bus to Cambridge this morning... Becky, Sammy & Izzy, Trudy & Sarah, me and Linda. Off the girls went shopping while I took Sammy & Izzy to the playground, followed up by a visit to Rymans for Sammy to ogle the stationery, the purchase of an exercise book and pencil each to keep them quiet, then drinks and buns/crisps. After two hours the girls struggled back with multiple shopping bags having trawled round the princely sum of one (YES, ONE!) shop... Primark. Next Sammy & Izzy went off to Build a Bear Workshop while I went to drool in the Apple store. Didn't believe anyone could outlast an Apple drool, given that I fiddled with everything in sight and asked a couple of questions... those bears take some time to build! Was exhausted by time we head back on the bus.

Fri 06-Apr: Here's the latest three Sue Fenlon watercolour prints to add to the three we bought earlier in the year for the hall... a bargain at £30 each from John Lewis. Do any of them look squint to you? After putting them up yesterday, at breakfast this morning Linda and Trudy both swore blind the left hand one was squint. In spite of proving the balance of the three with measuring tape, spirit level, swapping them around and generally standing on my head they still thought they were cockeyed.

Sat 07-Apr: With Beth and family away for a few days in the Lake District I resumed my periodic duty this morning of cat mummy. Here's the four of them, Bailey Boo waiting patiently for her turn while the other three have their fill. Pity I don't like cats... they're sooooo desperate for attention when I pop in I have to shake them off my legs. Oh, also have to feed the goldfish too. Hmmm... if I played it right I could get away with just feeding one group if I fed the goldfish to the cats.