Hi Girl’s……..summer holidays have been so long that I really can’t remember how to function properly without the kids around! Country School broke up on June 29th and the new term started on Tuesday, how crazy is that? I don’t think the kids have ever been so bored by the end of a holiday before, which is probably rather a good thing, both seemed almost impolitely keen to go back to school, my youngest awoke at 6.30am on the big day chomping at the bit which, believe me, was quite something for him as he’s not a great fan of Country School, or at least he hasn’t been to date, perhaps this year will bring about a new beginning. Anyway once they were safely out of the house I did my usual going round the house with a double sized bin-liner throwing out pretty much everything, I always do this after a school holiday, it’s a sort of nervous twitch that I have. The house fills up with so much crap over the weeks that I just have to get rid of everything the minute I get home on the first day of term; old shoes, old clothes, old food in the fridge, old boxes of cereal, old shampoo bottles, old cushions, old towels, old swimming costumes…….. strangely it seems that I have to wait for this exact moment to be able to throw anything away and feel good about it. There have admittedly been ocassions when I have over exerted myself and thrown away perhaps a beloved old sticker or an ancient, orange, plastic Go-Go that I had presumed would never be played with again but in the main my clear outs are a great success and I’m sure we all feel better for it, well that’s what I tell myself anyway as no-one else actually notices and I prefer it that way otherwise my glorious family, being human, will make it their mission to make me feel guilty about something I may have thrown away which if they hadn’t been told about it wouldn’t have batted an eyelid!

My flea bites are slowly reducing in size but I am still tooooo itchy, why is it only me that they bite, no-one else has even one???  As well as the great throw out today, I have washed the dog with flea shampoo which has just got to be a rip-off, probably could have used Head and Shoulders as I shouldn’t think fleas like any  type of shampoo much, I changed and washed all the sheets, hoovered all the carpets and sprayed everything with yet more flea murderer and I now have the cleanest house in Gloucestershire, hopefully one that is finally rid of fleas. My big problem is of course that this is not the first time I’ve done these thing in the hope that all fleas will die and what happens……? Yes, the dog just goes out and bloody catches them again! I say that fleas should use condoms and stop reproducing in such vast numbers but I’m a realist and that’s going to take years…..

I’m afraid that’s about the sum total of my news today, I’m off now to yet another sporting thing with the kids as Husband is away, just call me James.