18th September
Just when we thought that our new young cat Pablo had settled down a bit, he confounded us yet again. Picture the scene. It is 6.15 a.m. on a weekday morning and the alarm has yet to go off. Spencer and I are both awake (but trying not to be!) There is a quiet tap on the bedroom door indicating that Pablo would like to come in. I lean out of bed and open the door a crack and, sure enough, he pads in, lies down on the bedside rug and proceeds to wash himself. Spencer and I still had our eyes closed when, a few minutes later, there was a loud crash followed by a small bang. Spencer shot out of bed, (no mean feat I can tell you, what with his sciatica and everything), to see the cat fly across the room backwards, with the cable from my hairdryer sparking furiously on the floor. Readers will be relieved to hear that Pablo is OK, having lost another one of his nine lives. The same cannot be said for my hairdryer. He had bitten clean through the cable. Regular readers will remember that this is in addition to the lap top cable and the phone charger cable that he has already got his teeth into. This cat is costing us a fortune.
19th September
Marcus returned from his first “official” driving lesson with a great sense of achievement. You will be no doubt be pleased to hear that no one was injured and no cars had been damaged in the process. He was so full of confidence that he immediately booked himself and appointment to take the theory test next month. I have to say that he has been swotting up all over the summer whilst recovering from his tonsillectomy and is almost word perfect on the Highway Code.
20th September
Spencer made a quick foray to Maplins to buy a connector to repair my hairdrier which he did indeed manage to fix during the afternoon. I must say that I did have in mind to buy myself another one as this one must be 10 years old or so. I had rather hoped that it would go the same way as so many other things at the Manor that have broken in recent years and which Spencer has never got around to fixing. After some considerable time, and despite plenty of nagging from me, they eventually get consigned to the dustbin. But no, not my trusty old hair drier- it is back on top of the dressing table again, albeit with a considerably shorter cable.