Hooligan puppy

Betty 1, Hoover 0

It's official, Betty is a teenager and don't we know it. Yesterday I was trying to do a rapid tidy up with the  hoover before yoga and ran out of time. I stupidly thought "I'll unplug it and leave it here until I can finish off..."  I got back to it 90 mins later to find that Betty had rearranged the plug and lead by chewing through it - great. She's also completely single minded and if she's set her mind to something (chasing a bird, playing with a pine cone while we are trying to walk, greeting another dog...), she will give it her sole attention. She has worked out that the best way of getting her way when we are out and about is to sit down very neatly and just wait until whatever it is she is interested in comes to her - it generally works! She also likes to settle herself down at road junctions and watch the world go by - she would happily sit for hours and watch passing cars / people / wildlife!

This weekend Abi and I set off for Somerset once again. This time we had an agenda that included 1) drop goldfish to Mum & Dad's neighbours, 2) get curtain measurements sorted, 3) check out what had been done to the house this week and 4) go for a walk and check out some of the surrounding countryside. Abi also had another agenda item, go to the equine shop in Norton Fitzwarren (preferably with Laurie), but we ran out of time so she gets to save her pennies for another day. Brining the fish was quite an adventure. Firstly the poor things got dumped into a large plastic bag which we endeavoured to tie up with a hairband having trapped as much air as possible in there. We then had a nearly 2 hour journey, some parts of which are quite bumpy, where they sloshed around - despite our concern they seemed fine with it all. Finally we arrived at Mum and dad's and then had to walk them half a mile through the fields to Jen and John's for a socially distanced handover! They were left to acclimatise in their huge pond for a short while before being let loose. It probably wasn't the most pleasant journey for them but I'm sure they think its worth it given the palatial new home they now have. 

We went from here to the Barn where we checked out the various bits and pieces which have been done. The block paving is still not finished, but the hard standing for the patio and gravel has gone down and there is the start of a utility room (a couple of carcases anyway) inside. On top of that the workshop is taking shape and the concrete pad has gone down for both the oil tank and the hot tub. We met a couple of the neighbours (all seem lovely) and then set off for a walk. We walked through some lovely fields, along side the stream and found ourselves at the motorway junction park and ride. Although it wouldn't be an everyday thing it shows the girls could easily and safely walk to the P&R and then get a bus into town. Civilisation isn't a million miles out. 

There's still a lot to do, but progress is being made and we even had some movement on the legals this week with information being exchanged so that draft contracts can be drawn up. In other potentially optimistic news, there is much speculation that the stamp duty holiday may be extended to June which would mean we would benefit - fingers crossed!

The other fantastic news is that this is the last week of the kids being at home!!! I just cant wait for them to go back. Not so much for me, but for them - everyone is well overdue seeing their kids being back amongst other kids, rather than being stuck at home with just the adults for company. I will miss the fact that we have spent so much time together, but on the other hand I will enjoy the peace of being able to get on with my work without so many disturbances. It will be a real luxury not to have to flip between my work and theirs, while also stressing about how much mess Izzy can make in her bedroom in the space of a few short minutes! In the meantime we have to take them in twice this week to be tested, after which they will do one more test in school before carrying on testing at home. Let's be honest, they only have 3 weeks before the Easter holidays start and we move - we might as well right off this term really. Of course they'll have been deemed to have gone back with sufficient time for there to be no reason to offer a discount on the school fees - obviously!

My plan therefore is to not get to wound up by the freestyling school work this week. As someone said on the radio this week - we are not home schooling, we are providing emergency education - a much better way to look at it. 

Looking splendid in the sunshine