A spot of shopping.

My Mum called me at 7.30am this morning to say that her kitchen had been flooded from a burst water pipe so she wouldn't be able to come shopping with us. We'd abandoned the idea of going to Milton Keynes because of the time constraints and had chosen, instead, to go to Rushden Lakes as there's an M&S there, as well as Next, New Look and House of Fraser.

She asked if we could pop in on our way over as she wanted to give Sophie the money to buy some Vans. We left home at 8.45am and scraped the ice off the car as it was a freezing cold morning with the snow hardened with the frost. Last night we'd gone for a walk around the estate after dinner and it was like walking through meringues! (It was lovely, though, as we came home and watched Nigella's Christmas table!).

I decided, wrongly, to drive through the village and of course, got caught up in the school run. It was total chaos as parents were dropping their children off and as the roads were icy and still covered in snow that had hardened, it was very hazardous driving. It had turned into a gridlock situation but luckily I managed to get out before the bus arrived!

The A43 was almost at a standstill but I wasn't going to risk the country roads so I steeled myself for a hold-up on the way to Rushden. Mum and Dad were OK and had mopped up all the water but they looked slightly shocked at how much liquid had burst from the pipe. It looked like their outside tap was to blame and they were waiting for a plumber to arrive.

We nearly didn't go shopping as my car refused to lock for some reason! I was on the point of returning home when it started to work. It could have been down to the temperature this morning - it was -5c but I've known it to be far colder than that!

We left Mum and Dad's and joined the nose-to-tail traffic on the A43. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the Round Spinney roundabout and then we had a good journey for the rest of the way. We arrived at Rushden Lakes at just after 10am and headed straight for Bill's restaurant which was serving breakfast.

Although it was freezing cold the sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning. We enjoyed a full English and the food was very good indeed. We ate sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes with lovely toast washed down with coffee and frothed milk. It was delicious!

After we'd eaten we went to Schuh where Sophie bought a gorgeous pair of black velvet Vans. We then had a mooch around L'Occitane (very expensive) and Fat Face (also expensive) before venturing into M&S where I bought several gifts. We also went into Next and River Island and spent a fair amount of time in House of Fraser testing the Chanel perfumes. Sophie bought two tops in New Look for a Christmas meal she's going to next week and then we decided to call it a day.

Before going home we called into Tesco in Kettering and Sophie bought another couple of gifts. They were alcoholic and she wasn't asked for ID! It had been a lovely morning but I still had a fair bit of shopping to do!