Monday 25th Mar

Nice to have a weekday when we weren’t waiting for the alarm to go off before getting out of bed; it being the Easter Holidays. Off to the supermarket to start the day, and apart from the frightening cost of petrol, the supermarket was surprisingly empty, more staff than customers in fact, but it was still a struggle to get a second till to open! Maybe that level of customer service explains the number of customers. Pleasant people but not really on the ball, which I suspect reflects the recruitment policy of some large retail companies.

The eldest is off to Morocco in the summer on an Outward Bound type expedition and has a trial hike with two overnights in the peak district coming up, so we set out for a large Outdoor retailer warehouse, to get her kitted out. What a fantastic shop, camping, climbing, cycling and fishing all catered for. Though why is it that even with discounted prices you still end up spending a small fortune? We took a trolley rather than a basket and as it got steadily fuller I found myself asking out loud, ”Is any of this going to get used again?” I suspect not, but as usual live in hope. As an aside I was slightly disturbed to see that the fishing equipment, tents, beds, loungers, looked like an advert for American Survivalists, being very reminiscent of army surplus stock.

Back home having been briefly frightened by the eldest on a short practice drive, I say short, it would have been longer but it had to be squeezed in between her getting ready and a social outing she had! Priorities for a teenage girl really are a thing of wonder. Decided to get my tyres checked as I’ve an MOT due next month and I suspected one needed replacing, so a quick £65 later I’ve got a safer car to drive. I did feel sorry for the lady in front of me who had what looked like a standard people carrier, but whose tyres were £252 each, and she needed two!

In case you’re wondering I got the wallpapering finished on Saturday. I know, break out the band. Now me and Mrs P, well Mrs P really just have to decide if we like it. The new 3-piece-suite is coming tomorrow, so we’ll have a better idea then. But I think we’ll just get used to it.

Jay-le-taxi was out in the evening to collect the eldest, whilst the youngest continues to be ensconced with either his xBox, iTouch or the computer, fairly standard behaviour for a teenage boy.

Yours waiting for the Easter sunshine

Jay