It has been a hectic few weeks. Christmas and New Year seems to be in the realms of the distant past, so much has happened in my usually quiet household. I have barely had chance to think, let alone write. It proves to me how family takes over all your life, in a wonderful way.

Firstly, Jeff’s sister and her husband flew back to London last weekend. I must say, the house has become remarkably quiet since their departures. I adore my sister in law, and love to see her visit, but gee, it’s exhausting! Gillian can talk ‘a glass eye to sleep’ (a quaint little phrase that my dad left me), whereas the hubby, Alan is the opposite. So, most nights we would sit around the dinner table, drinking red wine by the bottle and putting the world to rights, whilst Alan would sit alone on the patio reading his kindle. Gillian is an artist, and her paintings reflect her personality; bright colours and lively hues adorn every piece of her work. She paints gorgeously exotic flowers with rich blooms and exquisite portraits of wild animals from the many travels that she has been on. They are breathtaking.

I was amused by her husband’s habits though. Every morning, Alan’s silhouette could be seen against the bright glare of the sun, as he sat, in his endless pursuit of words and stories.  One morning, I decided to approach him. Gillian was still in the shower, and all other members of the household were asleep – even the dog! Being an avid reader myself, I know how easy it is to escape into the world of your story, and it seems that Alan is no exception. I opened my patio doors, a cup of English breakfast in my hand, and asked him what he was so engrossed in. Alan is a doctor, and is so calm and collected; nothing seems to ruffle him whatever situation he’s put into. However, he has become slightly deaf in one ear, and obviously did not hear me. When I spoke, he jumped, throwing the kindle in the air, and spilling ash onto the patio from his favorite cigar. He put his hand to his chest and his glasses fell off, rattling onto the glass table in front of him. I took a step back, and nearly stepped on the dog as he rushed out through the glass doors.

I stood in shock, teacup clinking in my hand, tea spilling out onto the saucer. We both looked at each other, and I started to giggle. Alan put his glasses on and gave a hearty laugh at the silliness of it all. Jeff walked onto the patio, to see both Alan and I in fits of laughter!

I never found out what he was reading either….!

Secondly, Liam is touring all this week with a new band. On Friday night, I had the whole band over to stay. Needless to say, they had to sleep on mattresses on the floor of the TV room. With ten for breakfast Saturday morning it was a chaos in a nice way. Bacon and eggs and toast all round, and plenty to spare. 🙂