Categories: uncategorized
Date: 21 July 2004 22:25:52
OK, so he was only a minute or two late for school. I just, well, I just sort of forgot that he'd still got to go. I'd finished last Wednesday, Tiddles finished last Friday, and I know Smudgelet was sitting there beside me in his school uniform but the penny simply didn't drop until I glanced at the clock and realised that I had five minutes to finish my breakfast, wash and dress, and get the child up to school! Still, it gave me the excuse to send Tiddles up again later to deliver the dinner-money envelope that I didn't have time to get ready... which gave me half an hour to sit quietly in the bath with my book and a cup of coffee. And when he asked, on his return, whether he could try going to the Rec to play for half an hour, I reluctantly added another load of hot water into the cooling depths, told him he could stay for three quarters of an hour playing, and engrossed myself once more into my book. By the time Dad came round to see if I'd drowned, I managed to finish the book :D
Out to Lavender Farm for lunch. Have you ever tasted lavender shortbread. It tastes like... well, surprisingly it tastes like shortbread with lavender in. Funny how you know precisely what lavender would taste like. I don't particularly like the smell, but I find lavender extremely relaxing and even packed with three coach parties the farm is a delight to visit.
This afternoon I took Tiddles (to Smudgelet's disgust!) to school to help me paint the inside of the caravan. The boss looked in and failed to comment - so either I'm breaking the rules by doing it or I'm still in disgrace for being awkward about the timetable. But I don't care, whichever the reason - it's lovely to see my tatty old caravan turning into a bright and smart learning environment, and to see the pencil marks and comments on the walls disappear under a coat of shiny new paint. We did two walls today - and boy could you see the difference! It made a good talking point to talk to Tiddles about the difference between doing things for money and doing them because you take a pride in something or because you want to help. He'd had a grand old time this morning as Dad had let him help cut the hedge by climbing the ladder and trimming the top. Dad didn't dare go up the ladder (good) and it was a real achievement for Tiddles to do it. For me it was lovely to watch the two of them working together and so happy in each other's company. It was such a shame that Tiddles then dropped a hint about being paid for doing it and, despite my saying he wasn't to suggest that because we help each other as part of the family rather than for pay, my father gave him £2 because "He deserves financial reward when he does something helpful".
It was only as we went into Thorntons for a drink after our work that I discovered that Tiddles hadn't actually cottoned on to a key rule of painting and decorating.... that leaning on the wall you've just painted leads to a transfer of the paint applied thereto onto the clothing and skin making contact with it. He was "pale magnolia" from head to ankle on the back!
We returned home to find Dad had let Smudgelet drive the mobility scooter up the drive... with the two of them sitting on it. Fortunately he had somehow managed to get the two of them and the scooter back out of the hedge before I saw them and gave them a talking to!
I think I'll go to bed now before we have any more near-misses.