A quiet few days

We've had quite a quiet few days lately, mostly being gently busy at home.

We did go to visit our friends Sue and Roger in Sheffield on Saturday evening for a very pleasant evening of food, conversation and apple juice.  (I am not usually a big fan of apple juice, but I have recently discovered in the Chatsworth shop a pressed Bramley apple juice which I do rather like, especially mixed with soda water.)  We haven't seen Sue and Roger for simply ages so it was lovely to have chance to catch up.

And that's pretty much it, really.  Otherwise we've just pottered.  I've done some cooking.  We've done some gardening and allotmenting. A bit of telly, a bit of radio, a bit of reading.  I come to work, from time to time.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Quite a pleasant way to spend a summer

It's been a bit drizzly for the past couple of weeks, interspersed with heavy showers, bursts of sunshine, a bit of wind.  The drizzle hasn't really been enough to water anything properly.  The ground is still very dry under the larger plants.  The heavy showers have been more interesting.  There was one on Saturday afternoon, while we were down the very back of the garden, which drove us into the greenhouse for 4 or 5 minutes.  After it had stopped, we headed for the car to go to Hasland for some pond supplies.  By the time we got to Grassmoor, about half a mile away, the ground was dry.  The pond supply shop, about 2 miles away, clearly hadn't seen any rain for days!!  A very localised shower indeed.

Our various offsprouts are having a more exciting time.

Austin is in Victoria for a month, eating and drinking his way around various family and friends.

Freyja is preparing for the Goodwood Park Roller Skating marathon next Sunday.  In preparation, she and the Sheffield Steel Roller Girls skated the Humber Bridge last Saturday (I am very jealous about this, though I would prefer to walk over the Humber Bridge rather than skate).  They are doing the marathon to raise money for the Sheffield Children's Hospital.  If you should care to contribute to their fund raising, they have a Just Giving page at http://www.justgiving.com/Sheffield-Steel-Roller-Girls

And today is Tabitha's last day at the Cambridge Sainsbury's. :-(  I think she's going to miss her colleagues there.  She seems to have enjoyed her time with them. But now she has a few days off and then starts at the Sheffield Sainsbury's next Monday.  I'm not sure if they have heard whether they definitely have the house they were after in Woodseats.  I went in to the Estate Agent last Wednesday or Thursday to pay the first month's rent (with their money, I hasten to add - I haven't suddenly acquired mountains of spare cash!!) and the agency was waiting for one remaining reference.  Tabitha is coming up to Sheffield on Sunday evening.  If no house is ready, I suppose she could borrow one of our large cardboard boxes and bung it in Meersbrook Park as a shelter for a day or two!

And The Builder's daughter Jeanette has been having an exciting time too.  For reasons that are unclear to me, they have lately taken up camping and were, I believe, away this last weekend enjoying a couple of nights under canvas.  Yesterday she, Rebecca and Evie enjoyed a pleasant few hours in Accident and emergency - having a bead removed from Evie's ear where she (Evie, not Jeanette) had plunged it in far enough for it to be very difficult to remove!!!  It has now been removed and, I believe, removed from Evie's care as well!