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Happy days

What a lovely week we have had - the best half terms are the ones spent at home, with family and friends and just being together. If I make the comparison to spending a packet of cash heading off for sun which may or (in our case) may not appear, I'd take home any day. We had a mix of weather, including high winds and day long down pours, and it was still better than being away. Must remember that!

We started the week at home, then down to Taunton for a few days at Mum and Dads. The girls just love going down there and the only battle was that I had decided on 2 nights and they wanted more. We arrived to a slight disappointment. - no Ben and Laurie until the following day. They soon got over this as the fun of being at Fifi and Grumps took over and within 5 mins they were helping with baking, off to see the sheep and playing with the dogs. The following morning we set off for the beach in beautiful sunshine, a proper late winter sunny day, cold and clear. The frost in the morning was stunning and while Mum and Dad walked the dogs, we walked round the field jumping in icy puddles and taking photos of the frost bathed in sunshine. The beach was lovely - as ever it took just seconds for the kids to gel and immediately their Gang of Four was set for the day. It's never quite perfect - the first one to wilt was Abi who hadn't eaten enough breakfast. As ever with her there's no gradual decline, she just hit the wall and started to grump. I then had to chivvy her along on the way back to the cafe to refuel. Luckily finding a series of heart shaped stones kept her going, although I didn't necessarily intend to bring them home with me! It's rare that it's not Izzy who is the first to moan, a fact that she pointed out to me very quickly!

After the beach it was home and a visit, complete with home made brownies, from Kerrie, more games, more food and finally 2 tired children into bed - sleeping all the way through to 8am, so lie ins all round - result!

After Taunton we've had a lovely time at home, few visits here and there but nothing too taxing. Both girls had a sleep over on Thursday - meticulously planned by me to coincide, which meant we got a free night out and had a lovely meal at the Pot Kiln, always a treat. We seem to have landed on our feet with sleepovers. Both the girls have made best friends who don't like to stay at other people's houses, so sleepovers have to be at their houses. We'll live with that thank you!

The week was rounded off with a trip to Angies so girls could ride and spend the day at the stables. I dropped them off at 9:30 and headed off to Shaftesbury to kill some time. I treated myself to tea and cake with the Sunday papers (well, part of them - does anyone read all of a Sunday paper?), followed by a walk round the town, mooch around the Sunday market and then an educational wander round the ruins of the Abbey. Did you know it was the last Abbey to surrender to the crown in 1539 when the then King decided to dissolve them to give the land to his cronies? The town had 12 churches at the time, surprisingly they haven't all made it to modern times. Despite Glenn's disparaging comments, I rather enjoyed my tour - very relaxing for a few hours.

So back to work / school tomorrow - I'm not ready! I checked in a few times over the week and there's loads to do but no disasters that were immediately obvious. I was supposed to be in a n all day workshop in Canary Wharf - someone else's wildly important goal - but I've ditched that (bugger the consequences) so at least I've now got tomorrow to get myself straight. By Tuesday it will no doubt feel like I've never been away. Oh well, Easter is on the horizon, the days are definitely getting longer  and our new garden room is being delivered this week - lots to look forward to!




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