Another busy week, work wise and home wise. Nikki is back with us for Easter. She finished on Friday. Her car has been off the road recently. However, with it’s ailments repaired, Nikki was driving back. I drove across to Hatfield from where I work on Friday evening (only 20 mins away) and put most of her packing in my car, and then followed her back. Ellie is thrilled to have her big sis back home, and the rest of us are pleased to see her as well. Not that we have seen much of her in the few days she has been back. Most of her packing was dirty clothing. She seems to have eeked out her clothing, and came home in the last pieces of clean clothing she had. The poor washing machine thinks it is being punished as it has been going non-stop.

On Saturday Nikki was playing hockey in Banbury. Her team won 5-0, and she kept up her recent scoring exploits by getting a goal. Then last night she was off out catching up with friends. Today she has been playing hockey again, with Tricia. As part of the hockey clubs 75th anniversary celebrations there was a small tournament featuring past and present players. Tricia and Nikki played on the same team, and Nikki scored again. I stayed at home as Ellie had a party to go to. A pity really, I would like to have gone, it would have been nice for the three us to be playing on the same side for a while.

Nikki has just gone off out again. However, I cooked a roast, and between hockey and her going out again, we all sat down together for a meal for the first time in a long time. Robbie, who is a slim young man, amazes me with what he can eat sometimes. A food hoover. He ate at least twice what I did, and I don’t eat small portions…. leftovers, we don’t have them in this house, we have a Robbie. A growing lad his Mum says. At the end of the meal he said, ‘I’m stuffed’. I’m not surprised.

Nikki is in the throws of buying a newer car. Our next door neighbour was selling hers, and it was a nice opportunity. The car is immaculate outside and in, has been looked after and garaged every night, and serviced regularly. So, this week Nikki will be sorting out her insurance and getting the car on Thursday. She is very pleased. Her first car has been pretty good, but is becoming unreliable, and so needs to be changed.

Ellie lost a tooth last Thursday evening, literally. She has been bothered by a tooth for a few weeks, and when she was cleaning her teeth it came out. She came downstairs very excited by this. She then went back up to wash the tooth before it went under the pillow… but the tooth slipped out of her fingers and went down the plug hole. She was distraught. So, I had to write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining the accident and leave that under the pillow. This pacified her, and of course she was pleased to find the tooth fairy accepted the letter and left her a £1 coin.

I had to do a Quiz for the school association on Saturday evening. Doing the actual quiz only takes a few hours, but the prep for setting questions takes substantially longer. The quiz went down well, and we raised around £700 for the school, so was worth it. For me though it is a blessed relief. With all the line learning for ‘allo ‘allo and the productions, then last weeks sketches at the Ladies evening, and the Quiz, I feel I have had no time at all. I am not committed to do anything now until a St Georges evening at the end of April, when I might have to recite some Shakespeare. But, I am not under pressure to do anything this week.

This time next week my Lentern promise will have been completed and kept. I feel substantially better for my abstinence. I have lost 11lbs in weight, and just that in itself has helped me feel better about myself.  I can be very single minded, and the willpower to complete is not a problem, when I have a target. The issue for me is what do I do after next Sunday, carry on ? The thing is I know what I am like… if I have 1 cup of tea, why not have 11 ? 1 slice of cake, why not 2. I don’t want to lay to waste all my good work. I have even started running again, only a few miles at a time, but it gets the blood moving. We will see. I may just enjoy Easter Sunday, and then carry on till I am happy or fed up with it.

A better sporting weekend. England won at the rugby, have a good chance in the cricket of beating New Zealand tonight, and West Ham won.

Oh well, time to sign off. No Lark Rise to C tonight. The last episode is being saved for next Sunday night. Just as well really, the final for Dancing on Ice is tonight and Ellie is addicted, and it would have clashed.