Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go...

Bank Holidays are normally sacred to me, but today Mum, Dad and I went into work to finish off the painting (and do the cleaning) as a new floor is being out down in the Ladies' loos next week.

I was in very early and Dad and I made good progress with the second coats so by 2pm I was all done! I'd also hoovered for mum so it was lovely to get home, jump in the bath and relax. The weather was horrible anyway - lashing rain and wind - so I wouldn't have been doing anything exciting anyway!

In the evening Keith and I went for a drink at The Hare in Loddington and it was great to know that I was off the next day! Yipppeee!

Essential shopping

It's become a tradition in our house to drive over to Corby to buy Mikey shoes. And we have to go on a Sunday!

We stopped off at McDonald's first for the children to have breakfast (I had porridge and a latte) and then we headed for Corby. Normally I get lost but today I drove straight to the big out-of-town shopping area and we parked outside Brantano's. We ended up buying Mikey three pairs of shoes and then we went into Matalan to buy him some new trousers for school, something he badly needed!

Our last stop was the huge Asda where I found two bottles of my favourite wine, Redwood Creek Merlot, and we treated Mikey to some Root Beer so he had a very enjoyable morning!

As the weather was pleasant for once, I spent the rest of the afternoon gardening and putting my car through the car wash (so it's bound to rain again soon). It was lovely to be out in the fresh air and the garden doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. One of the bushes that I thought had died has lots of new growth and there's even a hint of something growing in the pot that our "leek" was in so we'll keep an eye on that as we thought it was completely dead.

By 4pm I was all done and it was lovely to sit and relax with a drink...not in the garden I hasten to add, though. Although sunny and dry it was still a bit too cold!

We are creatures of habit...

Today was very much like last Saturday!

Sophie arrived home at 11am after being at a sleepover over the road with two friends. She was tired and a bit giggly after drinking a bottle of cider and some WKD the night before...I wasn't aware of this but she said they didn't drink a lot...just one more worry to be added to the list!

After she'd showered we both went off to Market Harborough again, having a milkshake in Caffe Nero before visiting our favourite shops and dodging the hail showers. It was windy and cold but we did venture a bit further along the High Street today in search of shoes for her upcoming Prom at the end of June. She saw a gorgeous pair in Monsoon but at £65 they were out of her price range, especially for a pair of shoes she'll probably only wear once.

Back home we were greeted with lovely smells from Keith's curry...yes, the same one as he made last week, but this time with more chillies in and it turned out to be very hot!

Mucking about...

I just happened to leave my mobile phone at work for 20 minutes while Mum and I popped over to the bank, but on my return I discovered that Keith had been trying to get hold of me as the school had called. Apparently, Mikey had fallen over and was covered in mud...

I dashed to the school to pick him up and he was filthy, with his shirt, trousers, blazer and school bags all muddy. Luckily one of the women on the Reception desk gave me a black bag to use in the car and I took him back to work before heading for home. His explanation was a bit vague, but it sounds like he was mucking about with his mates and someone had pushed him down a muddy slope at school. Needless to say as soon as we were home it was straight into the bath for him and straight into the washing machine for all his clothes!

I settled down with a pack of Sushi I'd bought for my lunch, the first time I'd ever tried it, and it was delicious! No raw fish, but very tasty mackeral, prawn and salmon so I'll definitely try it again!

I'll be building an ark soon...

Yes, today we awoke to heavy rain and grey, leaden skies. I know I wanted rain and the gardens certainly needed it, but this has gone on for far too long now! We have a Bank Holiday weekend coming up and all thoughts of sitting in the garden with a long cool drink have disappeared. We even have plans to come into work on the Monday and finish the painting as what else is there to do at home other than sit and watch the falling rain?!!

It's also Polling Day today and I'm still in two minds about whether to vote or not. We have just two candidates and at the moment I'm not happy with either of them. Where's the Monster Raving Loony Party when you need them?

We've reached the middle of the week!

Today Keith and Ian finished the barrier we have erected to stop our lovely customers denting the new cladding. They've made a really good job of it and it's great to know that it's completely protected. I just wish we'd done it earlier!

Amazingly we had no rain today but there is more on the way and I was amazed to read the headlines of the paper which said that if we have another dry winter we may have to have standpipes in the streets next year! Unbelievable!

Sophie was working for us tonight but I headed home to do some very essential housework until it was time to pick her up. It gets to the stage when I really can't stand it any longer and I had no choice but to hoover (Archie's fur was the biggest culprit) and tidy the kitchen. Then, when I got home I could relax!

Swimming on the M25...

Today Mum and I went down to Kent to see Nan and to sort out some of her finances. We really, if we were honest, didn't have the time to go down as we had so much to do at work but there was no way of getting out of it.

The rain was lashing down on the M1 making driving very difficult, but in Dartford the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous Spring day.

While mum and my uncle went to the bank, I did Nan's shopping for her which was fun as I rarely shop in Sainsbury's and she's extremely particular about what she buys! I daren't get it wrong!

We left Dartford in bright sunshine but ahead of us was a huge black cloud. Very soon the heavens opened and the M25 was awash with water, with the fields on either side flooded after all the rain we've had. By the time we got home it was misty and murky and not like Spring at all.

As I stopped outside the house to let mum drive home Sophie opened the window and said that the alarm at work was going off and could we go in as Dad was cooking dinner? Muttering a few words under my breath we turned the car around and headed back the way we came to investigate why the alarm was ringing.

When we arrived the Nursery cleaner was looking a little worried but nothing had happened, burglary-wise, so it must have been an over sensitive sensor!

I can tell you the drink I had when I eventually got in was very welcome indeed!