Didn’t think I would get around to adding any more to the blog this week as I have been very tired getting into school before 7.00 am as the head is away with the Year6 Residential Field trip to York.  I am teaching all day, and the organisation/paperwork/planning etc. had to be done either before or after school and of course, I have to see parents, advisors etc. after class finishes, somehow  I managed to get away before 6. oopm on each day. Though, I did fall asleep at home on Wednesday night and didn’t attend the PTA meeting. They managed without me. I told them I had forgotten, (thinking if I said I had fallen asleep at 7.00 pm, they might think I am getting too old).

Though we mostly had glorious weather in Leicestershire, it rained all week in York. The rain appeared briefly in Harborough on Thursday night to spoil my weekly game of tennis.

Jamie’s moped got sick on Tuesday night on the way to the Foxton Locks. I nipped over around 8 pm to check it out, it appeared to work but sounded quite sickly. I told him to give me ring when he finished work and I would follow him home in the car (mistake!). He usually finishes around 10.30 pm, but as the weather was good there were lots of guests, so the phone call came at 11.45 pm. His speed was variable on the way back, but he managed it. The bike is now in the garage awaiting repair, I wonder how much it will cost because I know who will have to pay. He was having a visit from a friend from Mansfield on Saturday, her name is Morgan and though she has been before, she is not a girlfriend he insists, but just a friend that is a girl. I can’t work that one out.

I drove up to Thurcroft to see my mother on Friday, it was her birthday on Saturday (she is as old as I feel!), Sarah couldn’t come because of music lessons and a Swimming Gala, also she has quite a lot of homework (which surprisingly, she does willingly, I never did). We did have to visit the Doctors for our inoculation jabs for the holiday, but luckily only Sarah had to have any, however, we did get the bad news that we would need malaria tablets.  I did spot a couple of tornadoes over towards Leicester while driving up the M1. One did a bit of damage to the East of Leicester (according to the radio) and another one went over our house (according to Sue). The house was still there when I got back on Sunday, though there appears to be a lot of sand in the pool, which is not a good sign.

I took my mother over to see my stepbrother David in Atlthorp (Lincolnshire), it’s a lovely place, especially now that he is getting into gardening. He is looking more and more like his father, every time I see him. I offered to take him and Genya out for lunch, but they declined. I don’t think I have ever seen them eat. There is no cooker or oven in their fabulous kitchen and the microwave doesn’t appear to have a plug on it. They have the most unique dining set I have ever seen, and they won’t sell it to me (they turned down £2000!!!!). They are vampires and not in need of such formal dining arrangements as a table. It accounts for why all the people that work at their Drop-in Centre are all pasty-faced and shy away from the light.

I took my mother to a pub in Firbeck on Saturday night for a birthday treat, and we had a most unusual meal, we had to cook it ourselves at the table on a slab of very hot stone. They called it ‘On the Rock’. I found it quite entertaining, but the rock stayed very hot for a very long time. I don’t think I would give it to a child to eat from, they would want to touch it, I did! You can just see the solicitors lining up.

Charlotte requested that I pop over to Newark on Sunday as it was Father’s Day. Suraj and Lucas were both fine now and it was safe for the old man to risk his life. We had a lovely walk around the grounds of the Offices, where Suraj has his new Job. It’s down by the river and is a very nice place to work, I hope the residents of Newark, who pay for it through their rates, appreciate it. Taking grandad for a quiet walk on a Sunday afternoon is I know a national pastime, but this grandad still enjoys ice skating, scuba diving, trampolining, tennis, paintballing, snorkelling, caving, quad-biking, jet-skiing, tree climbing, chain-sawing, diving, eating crocodile and making sloe gin!!!! The last walk I went for, was on a Saturday two weeks ago, in the driving rain along the Fosse Way for over 11 miles (because I was bored and had nothing else to do) and I did it in 3 hours.

We had a lovely BBQ for lunch, beautifully cooked by Charlotte. Unfortunately, the meat they had bought was still frozen. Luckily, I had brought a pile of BBQ meat from Thurcroft that was not frozen. So, we had that. It appears that parents don’t stop being parents even though their children leave home, are in their third house, have a young son, and have now acquired the title of Grandparents…….we continue to feed them.

Tonight I have promised to watch a DVD with Sue and Sarah (Jamie is working), so must finish now.