We are a few children less, as our three boys have gone on holidays into their grandparents in Galway, so it is only me and my sidekick here

We have had an eventful morning… spent an hour or two lying on the sofa bed reading the same books over and over..

(and just when I was getting into doing the voices and making it all very animated, I was usurped by someone needing to watch The Snowman.

Me: “Sweetpea, will we read “The Paper Caper” again?”

Herself: “No. Me like ‘Nowman now”…)

Then we wandered out to the garden to pick some tomatoes for lunch- our Autumn fruiting raspberries are only  coming into fruit outside, but are ripe and delicious in the polytunnel. We picked a bowl for our dessert, and  before we got as far as the back door …

Me: “Hey! Where did our raspberries go?” 

Herself: “Heh heh heh” (evil cackle) 

“We” made egg fried rice with some left-over rice 

(Me: “do you want to scoop some coconut oil out for the frying pan?”

Herself: “yes” (and scoops out a spoon. And eats it. Then we have a minor altercation over allowing me to have a spoon of it to fry the rice)

Someone had to test each tomato before I could cut them up

and artfully toss some over the rice

(“Isn’t that pretty?”

“No”)

And then after lunch we decided to be creative and cut up the felted blankets to make cushions and a photo tutorial too (cue: delightful images of mother and daughter measuring and smiling and working completely in harmony)

Well. That daughter of mine!

she is so bloody independent, decisive, impatient (with me!!!!) single minded (where did she get all these traits from, I’d like to know?) determined, creative…

funny and soft and cuddly and warm…

I have to run… Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go!!!