Let them eat cake!

We all spent the morning catching up with housework - you could tell we had been out of the house for the last three days (well, Sophie and I had!). I had mounds, and I mean mounds, of washing to do as both beds were changed, plus there was more dirty laundry waiting to be sorted out. Keith did the ironing, and Sophie and I cleaned the house, as well as preparing the chicken and vegetables for the paella tonight. Phew! certainly not a lazy Sunday morning!

At 2pm we went over and picked up Mum from the care home to take her out for a cup of tea at Beckworth. The car park was full when we arrived, which didn't bode well for our visit! Sophie and I were both a bit peckish so we headed for the restaurant, only to be told by a woman that there was a 45-minute wait and the staff were handing out buzzers to let you know when a table was free...

There was no way we could hang about for 45 minutes, so we left. If this is what it's like now, heaven knows what it'll be like closer to Christmas! We drove to Dobbies (formerly Wyevale) at Wootton instead, to find a notice in their restaurant saying they were unable to provide breakfast or lunch, just drinks and cakes! The world has gone mad!

There used to be a Costa outlet here, but that's now gone, so we had no option but to use the cafe. We each had a cake and a cup of tea, and after we'd eaten we all did some shopping. Sophie bought some gifts for a friend at work, I bought three packs of daffodil bulbs, and my Mum bought some cards. These places have ceased to be garden centres - they're more like department stores, and there's a Sainsbury's outlet as well!

By now the time was getting on, so we took Mum back to the care home, and decided to take the scenic route back to our house, to see the sunflowers that we'd glimpsed last night. As we drove onto the narrow, single-track road, we could see a Virgin hot air balloon in the distance again!

We found the field of sunflowers and stopped for a while to gaze out over the view. It was so peaceful and quiet. Ahead, the balloon hovered, and every now and again we could hear the burners being ignited. We decided to follow it and drove into Old where we could see it low over the fields near Scaldwell. It looked like it was coming down, so we turned for home but they must have ignited the burners as it was slowly gliding over our estate!

Sophie and I played Scrabble before dinner and she beat me... again! She then cooked the paella while Keith and I sat at the island and read the Sunday papers. The meal was delicious and there was enough left over for lunch tomorrow!

Photo courtesy of Sophie