Keeping your head down

The Boy's been away for nearly a week now, yet miraculously we're still finding items of clothing to be washed. It's completely inexplicable really...underwear, socks, shirts miraculaously appear from nowhere. We're mystified. But no more mystified than when he's at home, and produces twice as much washing as anyone else. A washing basket that's emptied one day is full the next. We daren't go a day without putting the washing machine on for fear of falling so far behind that we'll never catch up. He denies wearing more than one set of clothes a day, but there's no denying it multiplies once he takes it off. It was something I noticed when it was just The Boy and I, but now The Cats Mum (who is invariably master of the washing - yes, sorry stereotypes do still apply) is as mystified as me...solutions on a postcard, please!

It's been a struggle getting up and out this week. Since he was quite young, The Boy has been an Organic Alarm Clock...always first up, his movements are sufficient to get the rest of the house on the move. But in his absence, I've been unable to get to the office before 9.15...and one day it was 10 before I put my head round the door. The alarm still goes off at the same time, but I can let it ring until it stops without feeling the need to lift my head off the pillow, and when the radio goes, I can never resist staying for just one more song. Again and again and again. The Cat also seems to struggle....she always enjoys her bed, but yesterday she excelled and spent the entire day in her pyjamas...that's the luxury of youth on school holidays I guess.

It'll be a couple of weeks before The Boy is properly back in residence and in a week's time everyone but me will be away on holiday. I would be jealous, but I expect I'll still be asleep in bed....

For Tara's Gallery - can you guess

I wasn't going to join in this week...only because I saw so many great pictures already that I didn't think I had anything to add. But then I was rooting through my computer and found these which I took a little while ago, and thought they deserved to see the light of day...

Spooky

We're not great TV watchers...in fact the Cats Mum and I have probably managed a couple of hours all year...and an hour of that was Top Gear last week. The Cat and The Boy equally are rarely to be seen glued to the gogglebox. That's not to say screen based entertainment isn't their thing. It most certainly is...the BBC's iplayer is frequently used on the computer for time-shifted viewing. And we joke about the 'boxed sets' of series that have to be purchased for late night school holiday viewing...Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes were firm favourites earlier this year. Not to mention The Boy's X-Box, and The Cat's Gameboy.

I used to quite enjoy Spooks...although never managing to see an entire series through (so invariably not knowing what on earth is going on). Last year they filmed an episode in our local cafe...I wished I'd watched it when it was broadcast, but managed to miss it. And yesterday, they were filming an episode for Series 9. There's something about 'Lights, Camera, Action'...and no doubt these are the only bits of the series I shall actually see!





This was almost as much fun as when Madonna filmed outside our last office a couple of years ago...she is indeed wearing glasses (must be human like the rest of us):



But then we didn't have to be warned about gunfire:

Viva Espana

I'm endlessly fascinated...like all parents I guess...to see how The Boy grows and develops, and our relationship changes. He's gone from being a permanently smiling bundle of joy to a mature teen (well most of the time anyway). School broke up on Friday, and the long summer break beckons.

This morning he was off on army camp for a week, he'll be back for a night before heading off to Germany to stay with his exchange student's family, returning for another brief overnight stay before a few nights with his Grandmother and Uncle and Sister to celebrate her 21st...I remember when she was just four. Startling. He had told me camp is in Kent. That turns out to be Aldershot. Heaven help us, as The Boy is an A* Geographer...

We hadn't spent the weekend together...in fact this is the first time The Boy and The Cat had been left overnight by themselves...just for Saturday night. It was a big step, but given the state of the house when we returned, there hadn't been a Facebook party. So that was a relief. One small step for Mankind, one giant leap for parenting.

Saturday morning we had headed for Spain...to Asturias for a wedding. No one seems to have heard of it, which is fantastic because it is unspoilt by foreign tourists. You can fly there by Easyjet...and I would recommend it highly. It is quite startling countryside, beautiful craggy cliffs and beaches and mountains. We stayed in a hotel that had formerly been owned by a family who had made their fortune in South America...it was very grand. These houses are a feature of the area...many are just dilapidated, which is a tragedy...I feel a Grand Designs moment coming on! For lunch we had delicious sole caught that morning.







The wedding started at 6.00pm, and was a full Catholic service in Spanish, of course! I couldn't follow a thing, but The Cats Mum is a committed Papist, so knew roughly what was going on! The family were completely relaxed about the coaches taking us to the reception being an hour late, and quite relaxed about the caterer refusing to stop serving canapes until he was ready. The canapes included octopus, but I am assured it wasn't Paul the psychic octopus from Weymouth who lives in Germany had been correctly predicting the outcome of World Cup matches. We eventually sat down for the meal as the clock struck midnight, having already consumed a quantity of the local cider (always poured from a great height to aerate it) and a Peruvian cocktail (the bride is half Peruvian). We danced until four, returning to the hotel at 5...the last coach of revellers made it back at 8.00, leaving many people still dancing!







We flew back to Blighty in the afternoon, which was a shame because it would have been nice to see THE football in Spain, but in all honesty we were somewhat exhausted and anxious to spend some time with The Boy before he disappears. Naturally he had decided to spend the evening with his girlfriend...he returned in time for bed.

So looking forward to seeing The Boy again in a week's time.