Last Ice-Cream of the Summer

Yesterday I decided it would be a good idea to take the dog for a walk on Westward Ho! beach. Ellie said, 'Can we have a Hockings?' 'Yes,' I said, 'if the ice cream van is there.' I fully expected it not to be there on a miserable day at the end of October.

Well, by the time we got down there the rain was coming down sideways and the tide was completely covering the beach. But the ice cream van was there, in his usual place at the top of the slipway. We walked the dog along the top of the pebble ridge, round the cricket pitch and back to the car, her shortest walk yet, then sat in the car in wet trousers and ate ice cream. Caitlin also bought herself a hot chocolate.

Ellie's Birthday

 

Today we celebrated Ellie's birthday. She had a few friends round and they went bowling and then into the karaoke pod. These are the sort of birthdays I like. We drop them off, they have fun, and we pick them up a few hours later.

 

 

At home we had burgers and chips for tea, followed by chocolate cake and ice cream. They are now in the other room pigging out on more chocolate and getting sugar-highs from fizzy drink whilst watching a video. These are the bits of birthdays I don't like - not getting any sleep. Why do they call them sleepovers?



Fidget and Whiskers

Both our guinea pigs passed away on Thursday. They were muched loved and will be greatly missed. They were 5 years old, which I gather is a good age for guinea pigs. We buried them under a flower bush in the garden. Bye, bye, little piggies.

Adrienne goes to uni

Well, here she is, my Adrienne, almost unpacked in her university room at Southampton University, where she will study nursing for the next three years.

We drove her up yesterday and stayed in Basingstoke overnight, then arrived at the Halls at just after 10 o'clock this morning. The day was not without drama. It rained all day. We discovered she was on the fourth floor of her block and there was no lift. Luckily some very helpful students in yellow t-shirts were on hand to help with the carrying. Carl conned one of them into carrying the Dougal box up for us. I gather it has already prooved a talking point as she was Skyping about it earlier.

Adrienne has locked her bike in a secure storage space until she can sort out a key for the bike shed next to her block and then realised that she doesn't know where the key for the bike lock is.

We went to IKEA to get a few things she was missing, like a bin (which was supposed to be provided) and clothes hangars, and managed to get trapped in the car park by another car which broke down just in front of us. Fortunately it was not long before the car next to us moved and we could squeeze past.

But on the whole things have gone quite smoothly. Adrienne has already made friends and by now is probably out having a good time in something called The Cube as Freshers Week celebrations get under way.

We'll see her again at Christmas.

Sunday afternoon drama

We sat down to watch a bit of telly this afternoon and had got 6 minutes into our programme when there was a loud bang and the sound of shattering glass from the room I write this blog in. Seconds later the dog shot through the door and into the safety of the garden. Investigations revealed a huge hole in one of the windows and a wood pigeon perched on the radiator opposite. Carl sent the girls off to get a towel and we managed to grab it as it tried to fly back out one of the unbroken windows.

The poor thing had damaged its chest and under its right wing and was bleeding everywhere. Caitlin insisted on cuddling it while we phoned the RSPCA. After listening to multiple mulitple choice options and several lectures on what to do with injured wild animals and birds I finally spoke to a human being who assured me some one would come to collect my pigeon. We put it in a box with holes in and left it. Three hours later someone eventually came. The pigeon, miraculously, was still looking strong and trying to escape. I hope he makes it.

I spent an hour of this afternoon picking up glass, washing pigeon blood off my walls and window sills and stripping all the covers off my chairs and sofa to put them through the wash.

In Memory of Dave

Today I learned the news that Dave Mason sadly passed away in late July. I saw him only weeks before, smiling and laughing as always. He was a remarkably lovely man who was always cheerful and ready with a joke. I will remember him fondly and my thoughts are with his family.

Ellie starts Pilton College

Today was Ellie's first day at 'Chaddi', as it is known by the children. There is a brand new uniform for the Year 7s so here she is modelling it. She had a good day, although she reports that Caitlin got her lost for PE by sending her to the Sports Hall when she should have been in the gym.

Caitlin is now in Year 11 and doesn't have to have the new uniform. She's come home with homework for every subject she had today. A sign of things to come!