Friday 8th Mar

Time for my weekly house cleaning this morning, and because the largest room is being decorated I get through it more quickly than usual. It’s strange, but when I first started cleaning the house it looked to be a herculean task for me; yes I know people, especially ladies, do it all the time. But I‘ve found you quite quickly get into a rhythm with it, and now I know how long it will take, the order I do the rooms in, dust, polish and then vacuum. Bathroom and floors to finish. Now I wouldn’t say I enjoy it, but with a bit of music to accompany me, it passes the time pleasantly enough. When I’m out and about walking locally, I see a fair number of home-help type of businesses around, looks like it’s quite a growth area. Though it does seem to be almost exclusively women employees. Maybe that tells us something about how the attitudes and expectations of society have in some ways not changed that much in the last century.

As its DIY season I manage to put on a splash more paint, before making the house more liveable for the weekend. I have decided to have the weekend off DIY, and plan to resume by painting the ceiling on Monday (watch this space).

I pop out in the afternoon to pick up a few DIY bits, and pay a King’s ransom for some petrol. In one of the lower cost supermarkets I bump into a lady I know, who funnily enough does the same as we do. Looks for basics in the low cost end, before picking the rest of her shopping up in her normal supermarket, over the way. The changing face of consumer spending is with us.

Home for some ironing and to get the tea ready, and for the first and only day this week the kids are both straight in from school, which is a real pleasure. After a quick catch-up on the day’s events, I’m revising Spanish for a GCSE on Monday. I’ve learnt more languages helping the kids revise than I ever did at school, but it probably has more to do with the fact that I want to learn now. I’ve always thought that education is wasted on the young.

Jay-le-taxi has a couple of outings in the evening, as indeed does Mrs P, though I do get the late shifts. And it being the weekend our light is out long before the teenagers, I don’t know where they get the energy.

Yours

Jay