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Baby Albie!!

It's the little things that are still so special. This weekend was a  bank holiday (yipee!) and having had no plans to speak of we seem to have filled it from beginning to end with no problem at all. On Saturday we decided at short notice that the impending visit of Chris and Jess with baby Albie was too good to miss and so we decided that all of us (not Glenn of course, babies are not really his thing) would head down to Somerset for the day on Sunday to see pretty much the entire family.

The deal was that if the kids got up early and we were away by 8am, I would relent my normal hard rule on junk food outlets (as opposed to junk food of which we have our fair share in reality). As if by magic Abi was up at 7am and Izzy at 7:15, the guinea pigs were fed and cleaned out in record time and we were in the car and on the road by 8:05am. Amazing! We drove to Andover and went to the MacDonalds Drive Thru (doubly special - MacDonalds and a Drive Thru - all their dreams come true!!) where Izzy had a bacon roll and Ai had a bacon and egg McMuffin. I had a coffee - there is a limit to all this after all.

This meant we were at Mum and Dads before 10am which was brilliant - it meant we hd a couple of hours with them before everyone turned up and the place turned into a mad house. We saw all of the work they have been doing (it's all coming together really well, particularly the garden which they've worked their magic on in what seems like no time at all), then went up to their neighbours to meet the pig they have adopted for the freezer later in the year. It's all pretty convenient - for once they've outsourced the hard work to someone else and all they have to do is hand over (an as yet to be agreed) sum of money and hey presto, home grown pork for the freezer. The kids loved the fact that there are pigs once again and climbed right in to give them a scratch.

This was all before the main event of the day, Albie. He arrived in a crescendo of noise, being carried by Amanda (obviously - she was desperate to get her hands on him) and the kids couldn't keep away from him - they were completely smitten! Poor Albie got passed from one of us to the next all afternoon without a single complaint and everyone feel in love with him. Thank goodness Jess and Chris were so chilled bout him, he was fab.

Izzy and I then headed home and Abi went off to spend a few days at Amanda's - I think we will hardly see her this half term.It doesn't matter too much though - she was very sweet before she went - we cuddled up on  her bed and had a long chat about this and that - these little things really are the best. I did say she will miss out on revision time but having written her timetable she has given up - apparently "if it's not in my head by now, it's not going to be - it's up to the teachers to make sure they have taught me well enough so that when I need it, it's there"! Goodness me, she is so like Amanda at that age!

Izzy on the other hand came back and has done some revision, in between watching various rubbish You Tube junk and seeing friends. This morning she headed off to the Highclere Country Show with Jessie which left me with a completely uninterrupted day in the garden - bliss! I may not have Mum and dad's talents in the garden but I love it regardless. I spent the whole day tidying up, potting out a few tubs, edging the lawn (a thankless and full time task with a garden path like ours) and generally enjoying the peace and quiet. It's so dry I also spent ages watering - when will it rain properly?!?!

I now have a short week (Friday off as well) and then it's June. Izzy has also just informed me  that she only has 25 days left at Thorngrove. Number 1; where is the time going and number 2; how can it only be 5 weeks - they've barely been at school this term - doesn't feel like valuer for money at all!



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