Doggy with a Silly Hat

I've been meaning to put this photo up for a while but haven't quite got round to it. Last Tuesday Willow went to the vets to be spayed. She wasn't very happy when she came home and whimpered for while. But she's much better now - running around all over the place inspite of the lampshade. I expect she's looking forward to Friday when it comes off and she can finally go through the catflap again. I know we are!

Words from Guadeloupe

This is just a quick note from the Carribean. I am having a lovely time. We went to school today and had red carpet welcome from the children. We have taken a tour of the island and spent some time on various different beaches. I've tried some different rum drinks - well it would have been impolite not to - some were nice, some were not. It has rained everyday! But the sun comes out in between. There are lots of mosquitos and one foot is now twice the size of the other due to bites. Tomorrow I am going on a boat to one of the other islands - wish me luck!

Prom Queen No.2

 

 It barely seems like 5 minutes ago I was reporting on Adrienne's prom and now here I am, four years later, telling you about Caitlin's. She has been excited for weeks now and been counting down the days for at least the last two months. Brodie came round after school and did her hair. Adrienne came back from uni and did her nails (although that was not her sole reason for coming back). It's been proper girlie in my house this evening. And you have to agree, she looks beautiful.

I drove her round to Alannah's and they went off together in Alannah's aunty's Audi. Adrienne and I raced them down to the Barnstaple Hotel and joined the mega-millions of other parents taking photos. It was madness, but I loved every minute. I'm sure she'll have a good time too.

Fluffy

Sadly, Ellie's rabbit Fluffy died today. She was a lovely little rabbit, although sometimes difficult to get out of her hutch. We buried her in the garden, not far from the guinea pigs. We will miss her.

A Weekend in Cornwall

 I was going to call this post a wet weekend in Cornwall, but Sunday didn't turn out to be that bad. On Saturday it poured with rain all day. We left home at about 10 o'clock-ish and stupidly left it up to the sat-nav to guide us to Liskeard. Well, we got as far as Launceston okay and where it took us after that is anyone's guess. It was a horrible windy little road and by the time we reached the hotel I was green. We didn't stop there, but decided to carry on to the Monkey Sanctuary (also down windy horrible single lane tracks in the middle of nowhere). We wandered around in the rain, and looked and looked, and barely saw any monkeys at all - they were all far to sensible than to come out in all that rain. Back to the hotel we went.

 After a rest, a cup of tea and a warm up we headed off into nearby Looe. We wandered around, still raining, and then had a meal in a restaurant. Back at the hotel we watched one and a half films then went to bed.

 It was still raining on Sunday morning when we left, but by the time we reached Land's End it was just very windy. As you can see, the dog came on our weekend away. It was her first holiday. She was very good although Land's End is not a very dog friendly place. None of the bars or cafe's would let her in. We saw all the sights, and Carl took Caitlin and Ellie on an Air Sea Rescue simulator thing.

Then it was off round the coast to St Micheal's Mount. Merazion, the village opposite the island, is very dog-friendly. We went for lunch in the pub in front of the causeway and not only did they let Willow in they brought her over her own bowl of water and a plate full of doggy treats. We let her off the lead on the beach and she ran around and had lots of fun then we all walked over the causeway to the island where we had to clip her back on again. She wasn't allowed on the path through the gardens up to the castle, so we just walked around the bottom part of the island for a bit then headed back to the beach again. By the time we left we even had some blue skies.

My New Bedroom



Finally, after living in this house for nearly 18 years, I have a properly decorated bedroom. When we first moved in I gave the woodchip walls a quick lick of paint, put in a cheap carpet and hung the curtains from my old living room. It's been like that ever since.

This half-term, with Caitlin ski-ing and Adrienne in uni, it was an ideal time to use the free rooms to clear out mine and do it properly. This is what it looks like now, with none of my clutter anywhere and none of Carl's clothes on top of the units where they normally live because he can't be bothered to put them away properly. It won't last. I'm planning on moving most of my clutter back in later today.

Red Nose Sponsored Walk

This is Ellie setting off on a sponsored walk last Sunday in aid of Comic Relief. Her and her friends, and some willing adults, walked from Braunton down the Tarka Trail to the Braunton Inn, and then back again - three-legged!!! At one point there were actually five of them joined so I guess that makes it a six-legged walk. Apparently that was difficult so they gave up on that one.