where did the weekend go? (and happy 4 July)

Current work: Rome-set Riva
Listening to: Mozart
Reading: Louise Candlish, Since I Don’t Have You (very good but it made me bawl my eyes out and grab daughter for a hug – that’s as much of a spoiler as I’ll give, but if you have kids you will find this tough in places – it’s BEAUTIFULLY written and the characterisation is spot on)

Weekend. Um. Was there one? What day is it?

What threw me out was two teacher-training days last week. Daughter thoroughly enjoyed the Norfolk Show; and I was up at 4 am the next morning (just the time to shoehorn a teenager out of bed, not) to sort out son’s packed lunch and then drop him off at school. He went to the battlefields and cemeteries at Ypres, and had a fantastic day. My third cousin 3x removed (i.e. he and my grandmother had a grandfather in common) was killed in action and buried in Tyne Cot; son took a pic of his name on the wall. (Another third cousin lasted all of five days in WW1, poor boy – if you don’t know the Wilfred Owen poem ‘Dulce et decorum est’, go and look it up.) Son said it was really, really moving. Although DH was doing the pick-up, I couldn’t sleep until my boy was home safely. Not helped by the first thing I heard on the news that morning, of a school coach trip in a serious (fatal) accident…

Anyway, daughter and I had a girly day on Friday. We went into town to pick up a guide book (hmm – how come I ended up buying her a pile of novels?), then spent the afternoon playing ‘Grease’ on the Wii and then watching ‘The Sound of Music’.

Saturday – um, catching up with sleep, then my friend Paul’s book launch (his dad’s WW2 war memoirs). Was lovely to see him and his partner and we mustn’t leave it so long next time.

Sunday, DH was at the Superbike racing at Snetterton. The kids and I pottered about and played games all day.

So I’m a wee bit behind schedule – not helped today by spending the morning in town while my car was being sorted out. (Not quite fixed yet, as it turns out to be a warranty repair, but the garage’s service was exceptional – for anyone local, I’d highly recommend Richard Nash in Rouen Road. They really do look after you.) I did have a successful morning in the library, though, and have managed to work the family tree back another generation. Not sure I’ll be able to get back much further, however, as the church records aren’t online. But I’ll buy another couple of certificates this month to help me work back another step.

And while I remember what day it actually is, happy July 4 to my American friends and readers (the latter being short for ‘friends I might not have met yet’) :o)