Buying Boots.

I think I have mentioned before that I have been giving my mum some extra help since David my step dad was ill, he can't drive for the next few months and mum can no longer drive because her sight has deteriorated too much. It is nice to spend more time with my mum but shopping with her is exhausting, it is as bad as shopping with Laura – we have to go everywhere and look at everything. In fact my mum is like a very old teenager sometimes. A couple of weeks ago she wanted to but some ankle boots because the ones that she wears when she takes the dogs for a walk are worn out. When we got to the shoe shop she was clear that she needed a nit of a heel on them because 'she is not ready for flat shoes just yet' we spotted a couple of suitable pairs and I left her to try them on while I had a look around. She seemed to be taking a long time so I went back to see what she was up to. She was fine, she couldn't resist trying on some stiletto boots as well because they looked so nice. I hope I will be like her when I am 78!

Being Prepared

I got at text from Robbie ridiculously early this morning. He was very excited about the rail tour from Crewe to Weymouth and didn't seem at all bothered by the early start. I was less enthusiastic about getting up, but I couldn't stay in bed for long because I had to take Sam to a paintball party. Sam was very enthusiastic about it but I was more apprehensive, I wasn't convinced that the world was ready for Sam to be armed with a paintball gun. I still have vivid memories of my multi coloured garage door after he got a paintball gun from the Gadget Shop a couple of years ago! Hostile Fire the venue for the paintball experience, is in a part of the county that I am not very familiar with, so we had to leave plenty of time in case I got lost. I found it fairly easily in the end and it was a lovely drive through the countryside. Sam had a brilliant time 'under fire' and I enjoyed a very peaceful morning getting my work done.

My mum invited us for a meal at her house this evening, because Emily is going back to university tomorrow. It was a lovely evening and we all came home so full that we will not need to eat for a week. Mum sent Emily home with one of her legendary chocolate cakes to take to university. She is a brilliant cook and her cakes are best of all. The only problem is that she always cooks enough for an army! I wonder if the tendency to prepare for siege conditions develops with age, when I look at her kitchen I am sure she wouldn't need to shop for at least a year. She has even taken 'being prepared' to new limits in the bathroom, there were 16 loo rolls, 4 bottles of thick bleach, 3 varieties of air freshener, 2 spare rim blocks and a choice of three varieties of moist toilet roll. At least they will never worry about running out of anything! My step father David was in mum's bad books for misbehaving at the supermarket, apparently he told mum that she was packing the trolley all wrong - that sounds very familiar! He was trying hard to get back in her good books but he could have saved himself a lot of grief by keeping his thoughts to himself in the first place!