Next week on Thu, Fri and Sat evening, Ellie and I are in the local production of ‘One O’Clock from the House’… Ellie is just pleased to be in the play, but doesn’t have a large part. For me, I have had a largish part, with quite a few lines, which as usual I struggle with until it comes close to show time, when the mind gets a little sharper… either that or the fear that I am not going to learn them in time. Rehearsals have started to become a chore, and time consuming, so I am glad the performance week is here. We rehearsed Friday evening, and this afternoon. We rehearse Monday and Tuesday evenings… but is all countdown.

Last year Robbie was asked to paint a significant backdrop for the play, this year it was a smaller request. He was asked to paint a scene from a window. So, I went and got Robbie on Friday evening and brought him home for the weekend. On Saturday he painted the view…. and as always I am just amazed at how he works… he pencilled an outline and then went to work with the paints, and in 4 hours produced what you see in the photo, all from his mind. I take my hat off to a skill I can’t comprehend.

I am taking Robbie back to uni tomorrow as part of a long winded trip. He then comes back next Saturday with a couple of uni mates to see the play. When Tricia and I got married, as part of our wedding gifts we got a dinner servive – Royal Doulton – Somerset. We love it, and have pretty much preserved it over the years. A few breaks, but despite the set being discontinued in 1990, I managed to source replacements on the internet. A few weeks ago, after Tricia and I had been talking about the dinner set I did a search – there was a small meat plate we had never been able to replace – and so I started looking on the internet. Well I ended up buying a plate for the gravy boat for £8, but I noticed someone selling a complete dinner service on ebay… starting bid was £50. Well nobody bid and I have been able to secure the service for £50. The only drag was that it has to be collected…..from Burnley. So tomorrow I have a day off, and will be going to Burnley to collect it. It will mean we are have plenty of extras to cover breaks, but we can alos use the same service when we have a large dinner party… and it has the small meat platter we were looking for. To us it’s a bargain. Nikki is coming along to split the driving… and Robbie to for the trip, and we will drop him back in Northampton on the way back.

Last week I was a little under the weather with a cold, but still had a full work schedule, and a governors meeting. Tricia was busy with chutney’s bit also spring cleaned the kitchen, clearing cupboards, cleaning them out (thoroughly). Ellie had a netball match which they lost, but she played well. Ellie is now on half term, and looking forward to a break. My car was serviced this week, and a tyre replaced. So, that’s all in good order.

Nikki and her Bobsleigh team mates, including Serita, who fractured her back in October, were guests at Bath Rugby Club yesterday. They gave them a box to watch the match from, and had to go out onto the pitch at half time and were interviewed. Nikki found the whole thing very exciting…. particularly answering questions in front of 12,000 people.

Yesterday Tricia and I went across to some friends who live north in Banbury, Trevor and Jan, where we were joined by Deb & Carlos, and Wendy and Rob…. great friends, and a wonderful evening.

Well, signing off for this week…