A quiet September

Whilst not so much has happened in recent weeks, gentle prompting has again persuaded me that I should provide some sort of update for a few distant friends. (For the record, I don't very often give in to nagging!)

Last month's torn calf muscle took a fair while to heal and only in the last few days have I really been properly back to normal. Just of good measure, at the start of the month I snapped the nail on my little toe against a wheely bin, not something I would recommend. And to top it all, I managed to sting both my ankles silly with poison ivy with the itching taking a good week to subside. Had the Piriton not been so effective, I think I may have considered amputation.

Belle has continued to grow in size and character. She's now had three "holidays" at two different kennels and doesn't seem to mind one bit. She's very keen to show off her full set of adult teeth and (thankfully) she's now got some idea of how hard she can bite without being immediately banished to the garden. Unfortunately for the rest of the nearby canine community, she's yet to understand what "I don't want to play" means.

The boy's school routine is now properly re-established, as are the daily activities such as swimming and piano lessons. He's started walking to and from school with a couple of his friends, something his Mum and Dad will appreciate when the cold weather arrives.

I've gone back to school myself this term having signed up for some further education in the form of twenty evenings of City & Guilds Introductory Welding. Rather unsurprisingly this has turned out to be fairly hot and hard work, although just as much fun as I expected. If only I had something at home that I could practice on - perhaps an old Land Rover or the like... ;-)

For the last weekend we went away with two other families to Sherwood Castle, only about 45 minutes from home now that the A1 is roundabout-free in these parts. The weather and accommodation was great, the kids pretty much entertained themselves, the company was top notch and I didn't get into too much trouble for watching the Singapore F1 qualifying on Saturday and the full race on Sunday.

As the evenings have started to draw in, we've been busy booking holidays for next year, one warm and one cold for starters. We'll be taking a trip to London in the not too distant future as well. I'm not sure Belle's so excited at the prospect.