A family affair!

I was awake at about 7am this morning which was perfect, and gave me time to feed the cats and have a coffee. Sophie had an appointment at the beauty salon at 9.45am so I drove her over and waited in the car. Mike had texted me to ask what time it was OK to be home and I said any time, of course! I did wonder if he wanted a lift but he didn't mention it!

On the way home, we called into the Waitrose at Moulton and Sophie treated me to a pastry for breakfast. As soon as I ate it, I started work in the house, and more specifically, the conservatory. Vikesh was due to come over in the evening for a meal with us, and there would be five sitting down to dinner. Mike arrived shortly after we got back and had driven himself, so no lift was required! He'd brought a load of stuff with him, including a present for us all from Abbie.

I cleaned the conservatory and Sophie hoovered, dusted the living room and cleaned the bathroom. Keith and Mike went out into the garden and cut down the trees at the back, as well as pruning a lot of the bushes. Keith had been wanting to do this for a long time and it did look a lot neater, but Mike said it was badly overgrown, especially the ivy that grows along the fence. This was now pushing up against the conservatory windows, which I hadn't been aware of. He cut it back but said we really should get rid of it completely. We'd like to but we think it's propping up the fence! It was great that all four of us were working on the house - many hands indeed make light work!

In the late afternoon, Vikesh came around and met Mike for the first time. The four of us played cards in the kitchen, and at 5.30pm he sat with Keith to watch Liverpool play Arsenal. The three of us carried on playing cards, and there was a lovely atmosphere this evening, which I was relieved about. There can be a bit of friction between Sophie and Mike sometimes, so it was great to see them laughing together.

We ordered a Chinese takeaway and the meal arrived quicker than we expected.  We all sat in the conservatory where I'd lit candles to make it cosy. I was just glad that the weather outside was mild and we didn't need to have a radiator blasting out heat!

After dinner, I suggested the film Die Hard but wasn't aware it went on for over two hours! By the time it had finished, I was definitely ready for bed!