24th Nov day 41 party time and Cubs

Simon dropped Nicholas at school so I got an early start on the much needed job of clearing out a base unit in the kitchen ready to take the new crockery. At the garage sale last Sat Carol came across an 8 piece dinner set with all the accompanying pieces, including 2 candle holders. Half of the crockery is black and half is white and she got the whole lot for an unbelievable $20. They can now begin entertaining at 904 which is what they would both like to do.

I was hoping Melva might come over this morning so I beetled on with my jobs in order to be ready for about 10.15am. I was obviously having a blonde start to the day, because I realised in the nick of time that I had my top on not only back to front but also inside out! The worrying thing for me was that I had sat opposite Simon at breakfast and he hadn't noticed (think he needs to get his eyes tested). 

Sadly in the evening I heard from Melva's niece that she is poorly and in hospital. Towards lunchtime I decided it was time for a cuppa and some of that delicious spicy fruitbread, but best off all I had it toasted with Maple syrup, a taste I had acquired in Canada. It was another beautiful sunny day so of course I enjoyed it whilst sitting in the garden and reading my book. 

At the moment Simon doesn't have sunloungers which means I have improvised and am sunbathing on the trampoline, lying on a towel, I can definitely recommend it as its very comfy. The birdsong in the garden is wonderful and it's such a great place to enjoy relaxing whilst basking in the sun. 

Once Nicholas got home he wanted to finish making the Star Wars Snowspeeder when he had had a drink and snack. Unlike Seb, Nicholas likes to build his Lego by himself so while he did that I cracked on with cleaning the windows in Simon's bedroom and the glass door. The house is well over 100 years old and a lot of the glass is original, so needs handling with care.

After dinner I took Nicholas down to Philippa's to collect his uniform then we walked down to Cubs together, it's a very easy walk. At his Mum's he has a treehouse, 2 swings and a rope swing, I enjoyed watching him playing for a few minutes before we had to get going if he wasn't to be late.

He is a patrol leader which means he now has some responsibilities for helping the other boys. This coming weekend they are away at camp so the session was spent teaching the boys how to put up tents etc.

This is not quite the back street Scout Hall that Simon went to for many years whilst growing up in Llantwit Major, South Wales!

Simon is Chair of the Board for Nicholas's school which carries quite a bit of responsibility. As a result he and Tim, the Head, have an informal meeting fortnightly at 904, while Nicholas was at Cubs I sat in the garden reading in the warm evening sun. I was joined by Mat, Tim's little dog who interestingly goes into school every day. He is such a friendly creature and he just wanders around the grounds letting the kids stroke him. You can't imagine that would ever be allowed in the UK but Tim was saying what a difference that little dog has made to some of the troubled or shy pupils.