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Wet, wet, wet!

Ugh - will it ever stop raining? We have had a few (very few) tantalising glimpses of spring which makes it even worse that the rest of the time it doesn't feel like it has stopped raining for weeks.


Despite this we are trying to fill the Easter holidays with enough for the kids to do but not so much that either we are bankrupt or they are over indulged - a fine balance indeed.


Last week was definitely a quiet one at work and I tried to make the most of it. Given I'm normally a million miles an hour, it always feels weird to start and end the day at a more reasonable time. I definitely don't do the hours I used to but I still feel guilty if I've done less than a 12 hour day, something I constantly try and reassure myself is unnecessary.


This weekend thus was a long one and we have managed to squeeze in a huge variety of stuff. Glenn was riding the Paris-Roubaix challenge so he set off on the Friday morning with his merry band of George, Jon and Jez while the girls and I headed in the opposite direction to Robinsons. We have reached (I think) a plce where Abi may settle on having Sam on part loan initially in lieu of her own pony. If this is what happens I said that I will buy her some tack etc so she can feel like he is her own rather than a riding school pony. Excited about this she wanted to go look immediately, despite me saying this isn't where we would go! Amazingly we managed to escape having only spent £3.67 - a minor miracle. We went home, walked the dogs and then Abi and I went to the stables for a hack - making the most of the sudden sunshine.  From here it was home for Abi to cook Toad in the Hole - she did a fab job!


Saturday was wedding shoe shopping and a dress alternation fitting for Izzy, before lunch at Pret (Abi's favourite) and then home for Izzy to take the turn in the kitchen. This was via the garden centre - their suggestion not mine! - mainly so they could eat ice cream (in the drizzle) while I browsed.  Izzy did a brilliant job making spag bol - if every weekend turns out to be like this we will be on to a winner!


At very late notice then Sunday turned into a detour to meet Amanda, Alex, Ben, Laurie and Mum in a damp Sherborne before dropping Abi off at Angie's for the week. It was lovely to see everyone, albeit it was brief. Trying to get a photo of them all together now is almost impossible - so much for the times when they would happily pose for us in as many ways as we might ask them for! We managed to get 3 out 4 of them a few times, but had to settle for a frown from Abi and eye's closed Laurie in order to get 2 of them smiling - 50% hit rate is probably all I can hope for from now on in.


In amongst this Izzy and I have been painting glass to varying degrees of success. Just when I think mi have a technique nailed it seems to shift and get more complex. possibly its because my expectations of myself increase and so I tackle something more difficult but its still frustrating!


Today was more rain - all day in fact - but we had Simon and Audrey coming for lunch which broke up the day beautifully. No pressure but Glenn was at a funeral and so I was left to cook (eek!. This would have been bearable with Simon watching, after all he understands, but then Glenn arrived home just as I started and said "no, you carry on" - double eek - nothing like being the amateur cook with your chef brother and critical husband peering over your shoulder... luckily it was sausages and new potatoes - even I can pull that one off!


This afternoon with Izzy home alone we tackled mucking out the pod which has become nothing short of a complete rubbish dump. We started with good intentions of washing things and taking them to second hand places but in the end got so frustrated that we loaded up the van with old pushchairs, bags of baby clothes and other junk and tipped it all. Lets hope they don't have a change of mind...too late if they do quite frankly. Its looking so tidy and nice that I've threatened that if they don't look after it I shall have it instead. We'll see if that works!



 

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