Bits and Pieces

I have to say I’m not loving Google’s Olympics doodles.  Today’s one looks like Pinocchio’s having a shot at the javelin event ……

Another Singing Kettle (children’s show) expedition the other weekend – all the family kids there this time so that was nice.  I had planned to get tickets for Reece for his fifth birthday and luckily, my niece Jenny knew I was doing that – she’d got tickets through her work so told me where her seats were and I was able to get 4 tickets for 3 rows behind them.

I only needed 3 but when you book online it sometimes doesn’t let you buy seats if it means leaving 2 or 3 seats in that particular row – especially if it’s in a popular area – presumably something to do with what will sell.  Anyway I decided just to get 4 and Reece could take a friend with him but turned out his stepsister, Paige, was down from Orkney for the weekend so she was able to come with us which was great.

A couple of times in the show the Singing Kettle entourage gives the kids a chance to be picked to go up on the stage where they get dressed up in costumes and do a song with them.  In the first half Reece got picked so he was well chuffed!  Paige was a star – disappointed at first but then waving madly to him all the time he was up on stage.  I told her she might get a chance in the second half but unfortunately she wasn’t picked then either and, just to add salt to the wound, it was all too much for one wee boy so they needed a replacement.  I thought her arm was going to shoot through the ceiling she stuck it up so high but she was just pipped to the post by a wee girl in front of us.  The halo slipped slightly but the promise of birthday cake at Pizza Express afterwards sorted that out.

Poor soul – I felt for her – these things matter when you’re 6.

And Rosie managed to stay awake throughout I’m happy to report!

She was absolutely fascinated with the flowers in this outdoor display – stood for ages feeling the velvety petals and running the earth through her fingers.

In Pizza Express afterwards Lorna and I tried to hear each other over the babble of 8 adults and 6 kids ranging in age from 10 months to 6 years old whilst Nikki sat in horror realising she was about to add a seventh child to this melee!

Our microwave went kaput the other day.  To be fair it had been giving us warnings in the form of occasional sparks and flashes which I had studiously ignored so it probably realised it was going to have to do something spectacular for me to sit up and take notice which it duly did on Saturday.  I sighed.  A whole evening gone while I researched reviews online, chose a model then searched for the best price and looked to see if I could get cashback on it.

What a pain.

I happened to be in Dunelm Mill that afternoon looking for one of these cool floral long-handled brushes when I spied a bright red microwave for £49.99 staring at me, just willing me to buy it.  I thought what the hell, flexed my muscles and lugged it up to the till.

Home – out of box – plugged in – raring to go 30 seconds later.

This was what it was like in the old days.  You needed something – went to a shop – picked out the colour you fancied and bought it.  Life was a much simpler affair.

Must admit couldn’t resist checking out online later though to see if I’d done myself out of any money but it appears to be a range specific to Dunelm Mill so I wouldn’t have got it cheaper anywhere else although I did myself out of £1.99 cashback by not buying it through a cashback site.  However I’ve just banked 50 quid from Topcashback gained in the last few months through doing just that – buying stuff online through their site so technically I got a free microwave!

And I got a letter back from Mum!

Not straight away admittedly – she phoned the following week instead and then we were up seeing her the weekend after that but her conscience must have been pricking away because 5 pages landed on the mat on Wednesday morning!  Small pages but pages nevertheless.  I wrote another missive back and this time included some diary entries from a diary of Dad’s for 1962 – luckily he didn’t get time to write much otherwise I’d have been there at the copier for ever (I told her I would copy everything so that she doesn’t have to worry about losing anything)!&nbsp&nbspAlso copied in a photo as well because I feel it’s a shame she misses out on all the family photos constantly getting posted up on Facebook.  She phoned last night to give me an update on my sister-in-law who’s in hospital just now so she was delighted to hear there was another letter coming in the morning (although probably secretly cursing me for writing back so quickly!)

Worked out I spent the same number of hours writing last week as I did working (21 hours).  It’s good to see this dent (developed in my shorthand days) reappearing in my finger again …..