The Merchant of Venice.

This is the last day of W & K's visit.
J has spent his time indoors speeding around the house on the pedal-free cycle, alternating with the Fireman Sam fire engine.
Quieter games have included lego, cars, football up & down the hall & demolishing the construction toys.
J is almost mesmerised by DVDs of "Fireman Sam", & "Cars"; useful at bedtime.

W has done two bike rides & plans another early tomorrow. Well worth while bringing the bike then! (He does have pedals on his!)

This morning we walked to the playground in the village, J on the pedal-free bicycle, which he put through its paces on the mounds there after trying out the play equipment.
After lunch W & I went to Tamworth to do a few errands & make a few final purchases whilst K had a rest & J slept.
W & K have gone to Stratford to see "The Merchant of Venice" this evening, so J & I have had a lovely evening together; he is now soundly asleep.
The house will seem very quiet tomorrow - a return to Radio 4 & housework & the gym.

Fn & all that.

I am trying a new tactic today.
The discerning reader may have noticed that my recent blogs have not had very satisfactory conclusions/completed the day.
This has been due entirely to the fact that I have fallen asleep before completing the blog.
It is 1.46pm, J is asleep, W & K are in Solihull. I feel very alert, having just eaten a rather fine sausage sandwich for lunch (not my usual "healthy option") & am confident that I will finish the blog & even manage to post some holiday photos without "nodding off".
I would have blogged earlier but had "no network connection"
W has explained the purpose of the "F" keys - not what I had thought at all - nothing to do with relieving frustration, so I'm up & running!

Yesterday I delivered all of my Christian Aid envelopes in the morning after church & collected most of them in again in the evening, poor light forcing an early retirement at 9.00pm.
OK, so it was a day late, but nobody noticed/minded.
Please give generously as it is a very good cause, has negligible admin costs & is quite hard work for the collectors - I am lucky having such a friendly patch.
£11 will buy enough banana seeds to provide food for a family in Bolivia - other fascinatng facts on your envelope.
Three of the family, with spouses, & five of the grandchildren came in the afternoon. They played very well together, riding things in the garden, camping with E in the lounge, watching "Cars" & helping to prepare dinner. Tim washed everything made of cloth that was not being worn & cleaned the filter on the tumble drier.
We had an early dinner. (cottage pie with vegetables, rice pudding & bread & butter pudding,created by W).

Today, W & K have walked around the reservoir, J cycled, then came home & had brunch.
I went to Kingsbury school to see friends & confirm my availability for the remainder of the term.
J & I are now taking it easy!
The good news is that I have just spoken to Radley bags.
I bought a "purple pocket bag" at the end of February, whilst in Wetherby with aj, Santa Claus having failed to deliver the goods.
Last week I noticed that one side of the bag was completely faded - the side facing outwards when in use - following our sunny holiday in Cornwall.
Radley confirmed that there is a problem with both the purple & teal dyes used & that they will replace my bag with a brown or black one if I return it.
I think that I shall have an antique brown one.
Strangly, they still have the deficient colours for sale on the internet.

W & K want fish & chips tonight, so I have a lazy afternoon.
Not even any ironing left to do.
Perhaps I'll enter the competitions in my Good Housekeeping & Coast magazines.
It's a hard life!

Crackington Haven, beachcombing.

Beach Dudes!

Boscastle harbour.

AJ saying farewell to Bude on a fantastic morning.

Tim's birthday party - a "high point", when J mounted the wall bars, out of Dad's reach!

Jeremy's here.

I fell asleep whilst blogging last night so my second draft & editing got lost.
I'm quite surprised that the blog appeared at all.
Only E seems to have read it anyway - that'll teach me to take a holiday.
Anyway, if there's anybody out there, we have had a fun day with William, Kathrine & Jeremy.
We went to Ash End House Farm this morning. They have a vast array of farm animals - sheep, pigs, goats, horses, poultry & pets of all breeds, ranging from shire horses to guinea pigs.Jeremy loved them all & made the most of the adventure playground, anything that you could climb on really.

Visitors from the north.

A quick tidy up & then to Ventura Park to exchange my £5 Boots voucher & 5p off per litre on fuel at JS voucher whilst still in date, thus saving £5 on my L'oreal Regenerist anti-wrinkle cream & £2 on diesel.
On to the main purpose of the day - to pick up W, K & J at East Midlands airport.
Their Stirling flight arrived nearly 1/2 hour early, so my timing wasn't as good as I had anticipated.
The family, luggage & W's bike -in-bag all fitted in the car easily & so home to lunch.
J settled in quickly & was soon whizzing around the garden on the peddle-free bike alternated with the tractor. His new "Fireman Sam" DVD gave respite & set him up for a few more turns of the garden & circuits of the house on a tricycle. He helped to make a chocolate cake for daddy, which we shall enjoy tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Tim!.

Tim is 4 today.
I did a "sleepover" at Tim's last night; he assured me that he was bigger now that he was 4, when he came to see me early this morning.
I'm sure that he will have enjoyed his day.

Last week, we spent an idyllic week in Cornwall, basking in the sun with a big part of the family, including AJ & 4 of the grandchildren.
We stayed in a delightful cottage a mile from the beach at Crackington Haven, a beautiful, quiet bay with a river running down the beach, rock pools & spectacular cliffs.
We spent days playing on the beach there or in Bude on Summerleaze beach.
AJ & I had last been here 14 years ago; for a number of years we took school parties to Adventure International, an activity holiday centre in the centre of Bude, canoed on the canal, abseiled down the cliffs, tried to surf on Summerleaze beach & walked on the cliffs, amongst other activities.
It was a pleasure to see the youngsters from the centre on the beach with their instructors, doing a grand job.
We visited Tintagel, looked around the "Old Post Office", originally a medieval long house, redesigned over the years, we climbed up to the castle & rewarded ourselves with a fish & chip lunch.
We walked around Boscastle & out to the end of the harbour in hot sunshine.
It was great.
I really think that you cannot better Britain for a sea-side holiday, if the sun shines.

Stuff the moles!

Not a good result for Gordon.
AJ tells me that he has looked increasingly miserable as the day has progressed.
I have yet to see any TV; he has avoided radio 4, but his minions have all restated his promise to listen to the electorate.
Will he act on what he hears?
A change of career may be on the cards then.

We have yet to hear confirmation of "Mad Boris's" success in London.

To return to the more rational, the mole man came today.
He was a little late, which was good because there was a downpour at midday, when he was due.
This was one of a number of showers during a bright, sunny day.
He calculated that we have 2-4 moles, based on the area affected, laid four traps (one each I suppose) & moved the molehills so that he can see new ones.
He will return next week & count molehills & replace traps.
I counted two new ones ten minutes after he had left - I hope that the traps work or he will be well into double figures by the next visit.
The warmth & sunshine coaxed me into the garden where I weeded the drive & yard - nowhere with too much soil!

A few days off blogging, whilst I learn Spanish, to keep up with Tim.

This appeared in the field opposite one night this week - & we thought that our moles were a problem!

Election day.

Not for us, but the BBC is upping the excitement level as the evening progresses - Will it be Ken or Boris? Apparently the result of the next general election all hangs on this result.
Watch out for the results from Liverpool, Cheltenham, Coventry & Cardiff.
I predict that the Conservatives will do well - fuel at an all time high & pay packets just hit by the income tax changes. (these have both hit this poor pensioner, who is not in any of the groups that will benefit elsewhere).
If you are reading this after 10.15pm, stop immediately & watch "Question Time" on BBC 1, which has a great panel.

I have had another charmed day: I vacuumed, hung out the washing,contacted a "mole hunter", who will visit tomorrow, lunched & then drove to Ventura Park to food shop.
Woolworths is closing on Saturday, with all stock -25%, this necessitated a little impulse buying!
I recommend M&S for an oakham chicken, posh sausage & cookies, all on special offer.
I recommend JS for Philip Berio extra virgin olive oil (1 litre), Cheddar cheese & posh pasta, all BOGOF & danish pork.

It rained heavily whilst I was in shops & stopped when I came out.

I drove home via Coleshill, to collect the Christian Aid materials for Shustoke, arriving home to find that we had had no rain & the washing was dry.
The sun shines on the unworthy!

Fish cakes & stir fried vegetables for dinner - a healthy day, inspired by a trying-on session this morning of summer clothes.