Today I have been (will be) mainly

Typos sorry - big fat fingers- little laptop keys!!!

I juts joined the local leisure centre-proably for classes and swimming rather than too much gym other than the walking/running machine. had a custard tart to celebrate and then going to be making Mary Berry's Garlic Mushroom Penne for supper.

Today I have flown back from a short break in Madrid (which I loved, but boy was it hot) Silly pair we are booking it in July. We coped though. Now back to mundane household chores.

apricot . I love a bit of honesty.

Today I have been up on the roof of my house!! I was completely petrified, but the Wonderful Man really wanted to show me what he's been working on up there and I didn't have the heart to refuse. It was very windy up there, but lovely to see that we have a good sea view (for anyone prepared to climb onto the roof that is).
I have also been making jam and slowly catching up on Gransnet. The allotment is now in production overdrive and so there was masses of fruit to pick yesterday - in addition to what the WM has picked during my absence there are about five kilos to turn into jam and that's before I begin on the gooseberries, blueberries and red/blackcurrants, which still await harvesting. I did pick a few gooseberries for the freezer before I went up north and I grabbed a handful yesterday that are so ripe they're really yummy just to eat straight away. I love them when they start to go a sort of milky colour and are almost overripe.
We have courgettes aplenty and some french beans are now ready to pick and freeze, but I have no time to get down to the allotment until later this evening as I'm still clearing out of my bedroom so that my in-laws can have it when I'm away. I've emptied a chest of drawers and half my wardrobe for them to use and now that I've finished my tea-break I'm off to clean the shower room and vacuum the carpets before getting back to my jam making.
#it'sgoodtobehome

Mishap and apricot - your posts had me smiling with empathy. I love having my grandsons to stay, but the two year old really does tire me out and I just can't do anything else at all whilst he's around, other than play with him.

I too had a small grandchild to look after all day, after getting up at 4.45am and walking the dogs and doing everything else before it got too hot.
We were stuck indoors for seven hours and every time she said, "Granny, I'm bored" I thought, "Ye gods, so am I!"

cleaning and more cleaning- been decorating and the place had gone to pot... and worrying, as sil and bil were taking the Tunnel today to get to Calais and on to Langres, before getting here tomorrow. Their phone was out of service, so we thought they might be in the train stuck in the Tunnel. I phoned the Hôtel to warn them they might be very late or not get there at all- only to be told they'd got there 1 hr earlier, and we resting in their room before dinner. pheew. Beds to make tomorrow and downstairs to clean and cooking- should be ready just on time;)

The bulk of my "lawn" is covered in Blue Star Creeper - it is lovely.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=blue+star+creeper&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Rt2SVZj5GYGv7AaaipXIDg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1047&bih=486

Or apply some Weed and Feed. Makes it smell like the seaside.

Just keep it mown trisher. Lawns don't have to be all grass. So long as it's green, why worry?

Have you been able to ditch the compression stockings, ethel?

I am getting better but after 6 weeks now I should be back to normal but its taking longer than I thought. Still as long as I can drive my car, play with DGD I don't really care. I am grateful to the doctors and nursing staff that I am where I am today.

Back to normal life ethel - that must feel so good!

for the first time in weeks I have babysat my
dgd, she was on top form and raced around the garden, she even asked for her suncream. We sat on a blanket and she played in her tent (cant get down to tent level due to operation), we had lunch outside then she ran off with her chair on her head saying it was her helmet.lol
I got some lovely photos. I fell asleep after taking her back, I was absolutely worn out

Today my dear little 2 year old GD has been with us all day. It has been too hot to go out but she has been busy:
- making cakes
- sorting my coloured scarves
- rifling through my hair clips and grips
- playing with water in the bidet (while I hid in another toilet to do some invoices on my laptop! - if she gets sight of the laptop she wants to have CBeebies all day)
- cuddling a lot!!

It has been lovely! We will draw a veil over the poo debacle on a dining chair!!

Thanks annsixty and HappyNan1 I am investigating both of these, something has to be done. Heat and gardening have given me a dreadful headache!

Trisher, I also have a tiny garden and a professional gardener has convinced me that artificial grass will be just the job. I was not keen until I went to see some artificial grass- just amazing. Maybe worth a look.

See if you have a Green thumb franchise in your area trisher We have started using them again after a break. They will weed and feed 4 times a year, ours cost £16 for two lawns and even 1 treatment has made a huge difference.

Today I am going out to try and do something about my (tiny) garden. I am not a gardener and I don't understand why only weeds seem to prosper and grow. Even my little lawn is a bed of buttercups, dock leaves and other things I don't recognise but which aren't grass. Any gardening advice happily received. I don't want to gravel/concrete it. I quite like a little patch of green.

Wish I could come with you granny activist, I live just about as far away from the sea as is possible in England sigh..... Oh to smell that lovely smell, jump over the waves and feel that lovely breeze . Enjoy grannya

DH and I are going to take our salad lunch into the garden, first time we have eaten out this year.

Yesterday and today I've been catching up on housework [groan]. I have a new summer lodger arriving this afternoon and that's always a spur to do a deep clean. The bathroom, toilet and his bedroom are now gleaming and there's a lovely 'clean' smell competing with the fruity smell from some jam I've just made.

Once he's arrived I'm planning to take a wander down to the seafront and sit on the beach with a book and a large latte.
#ohIdoliketobebesidetheseaside

What are you doing today?

Today I have been mostly tired out after having my two year old grandson all week - his dad collected him this morning - and from catching up with some of the things that didn't get done whilst he was here.

I have also been chuffed to bits that my son's rowing team has qualified for The Thames Challenge Cup at Henley and his lovely wife, a trainee teacher, has just been told she's won an award for excellence. I'm so pleased for them both - they work very hard to deserve their successes.

Anyone going to/at the Henley Regatta?

Today has been madness- shopping in France for visitors coming at Week-end, teaching, then painting the upstairs corridor for a couple of hours- then drove down to the Valley to go and do a guide visit for a local museum for 50 top engineers from all over the country.