Robbie and Ellie went back to school this week. Tricia enjoyed the peace and quiet during the day  Rob was keen to get back and catch up with some mates, and get cracking on his art and graphics work. Ellie was less keen, but enjoyed her first few days back.

I went to school as well… twice. First was at Robbie’s school, where I am governor. First meeting of the new school year lasted nearly 4 hours. But, I do enjoy being a governor, and helping in some way to contribute to the life of the school. I sit in on 2 committees, one for curriculum, and one for school admissions, as well as being the link governor for maths and computing.

The fact that I have a governor responsibility for maths, is a constant source of amusement for my old school friends. Speaking of which, I met up with some of them on Saturday in Reading. I have been in touch with Carlos and Julian over the years, but we also met up with a guy called John Preston yesterday who we hadn’t seen since 1977…. 32 years ago. You do wonder if you would recognise someone after all that time, but as soon as he walked in it was obvious. We sat talking about school days for a good few hours. When we had finished, Carlos and I went and had a look at our old school, Presentation College, so that was my second school visit this week. It changed hands a few years back, and beacme The Elvian school, but that looks like it has closed, and there was a planning notice outside which looks like it may get pulled down and replaced. Old memories flooded back… Here are Carlos, John and Julian.

The house has been full of the smells of Tricia’s chutney this week. She made over 80 jars on Friday, and when I walked in on Friday evening after seeing my Mum and Dad (both looking well), the aromas of chutney making were in the air. Nikki was at home on Friday, as her car was being repaired from a recent knock and having a few other items sorted out. She helped Tricia do the chutneys. Tricia has all the ingredients to make a load more this week. Tricia had a stall at an event in Northampton on Saturday, whilst I was in Reading. Nikki was in Bath, with the Bobsleigh team. She was pleased with herself as she bettered her times from the previous runs. At least she didn’t fall out of the Bob this time! Next weekend she is in Bath both days for trials for the full senior squad.

On the Bank Hol Monday, Tricia and Robbie went up to London to visit some Art Galleries. They went to the National Art Gallery, and the Royal Academy of Art… all to help inspire Robbie.

Today Robbie played cricket for the final time this season. North Marston won, beating Mursley, by about 100 runs. Robbie bowled 7 overs and took 3 wickets. Next season, the new village cricket field will be open, so he will be looking forward to playing some home matches. Whilst Robbie was playing cricket, I was rehearsing for the play I am in. Tricia was in Milton Keynes officiating at an athletics event, Ellie was at a birthday party and then a friends house. Nikki was at work at Homebase… usual quiet Sunday then!

Waking the Dead makes a welcome return to BBC1 tonight… so we will be tuned in at 9pm.

When we went away on hols, one of the cats, Ninja, decided to go walkabout. He did this when we were on holiday last October. He was missing for between 2 and 3 weeks, and we had just about given up on him. Then one morning he turned up out of the blue. This Saturday he will have been missing for 4 weeks…. So, last week when Nikki phoned Tricia, and said that the manager at the Homebase Nikki works at, had a cat which had produced kittens which they were looking to get rid off….. she couldn’t resist.

So we now have Lily, and two new kittens… so back to 3 cats. Lily disapproves, and shows her disapproval by hissing at the kittens. And of course there is still the possibility that Ninja may turn up. And then there will be 4.

Anyhow here are the two new pets. I refer to them as the ‘stinky minkies’.. but to be fair to them, they have been using the cat tray pretty much straight away, so no complaints on that count yet.

Here they are sleeping on a shelf in the unit in the conservatory, which is pretty much where they live at the moment. There was perfectly good cat baskets to sleep in, but no they chose a pine unit. When we are happy they are to be relied upon with the cat litter tray, we will let them explore a bit more.

They don’t have names yet, one is going to be Dave or Daisy, the other Todd or Tabitha or Scamp.. They are about twelve weeks old.

The above photo is the minkies playing in the conservatory. The below photo is Nikki’s leg, which is gradually healing. The scrape on her ankle is the one taking time to heal, as it keeps getting rubbed by footwear.

Rob is a bit down in the dumps, he and his girlfriend had a falling out and split up. But, he is back to school tomorrow and looking forward to meeting up with his mates and getting stuck into his art and graphics again. Ellie had a wobbly tooth come out this week, and has a bruised arm where she ‘fell off’ a slide at the park… she wasn’t messing about she says .

Tricia went and bought a few million jars today, and then one of the villagers dropped off some bags of plums and apples from their trees, so it looks like she will be busy on chutney making over the next few days.

I went to the doctors today. I have been struggling with a back problem for the last two months. The doctor reckons I slipped a disk  but that it is healing nicely… might explain why I could barely walk at some points. Perhaps I should have gone earlier. It is definately on the mend, but it is still sensitive and I know I can’t risk lifting anything at the moment. I am going to be given some physio for strengthening the core back muscles… to help avoid doing the same in the future.