Home again, home again......jiggety jig

After 4 whole days of drop dead gorgeous weather.......sun shining from a brilliant blue, cloudless sky, and little noise 'cept the sleepy buzz of bees, the cooing of courting wood pigeons and the occasional cuckoo in the middle distance, I have returned from my birthday camping trip.

Woke this morning to dull grey skies and steady rain which looks set for the day. The weather has shown perfect timing for once, and I don't mind at all that it's damp and miserable outside as I am replete with the great outdoors for the time being.

I was mercilessly pampered on my birthday.......relaxing in the sunshine sipping chilled white wine while PP and small dog arranged everything, from a delicious three course dinner to a plethora of presents.

The campsite itself was one we hadn't visited before, but it's not usual in the UK to be able to sit with a view of a herd of rhino grazing on a gentle slope a few fields distant. Previous campers had mentioned spotting giraffe and zebra too, but we didn't see any. Presumably they were on vacation in another paddock.

My presents included some wonderful stationery (I LOVE STATIONERY!!!) and these fantabulous Timberlands which I've coveted for some time.



Other more esoteric gifts from friends included a pale lavender ukulele and a glow-in-the-dark hula hoop. I have it in mind, in the fullness of time, to unveil a novelty variety act combining virtuoso ukulele playing while simultaneously performing acrobatic feats of hula-hooping so keep a look out for me on Britain's Got Talent at some future date.

However, in the early hours of Saturday morning, my MS gremlins ( NOT to be confused with the displacement goblins, who are altogether more benign) decided that I'd been having way too much fun and decided to issue a severe reprimand. This took the form of having me wake to the sensation of being submerged in oceans of pain, which were only slightly allayed by a large dose of mega heavy duty painkillers. These in turn zonked me out for a large part of the day and rendered me incomprehensibly insensible without a drop of alcohol having passed my lips.

Thankfully, over the course of yesterday, (Sunday) the pain subsided sufficiently to allow me to enjoy a wonderful birthday lunch laid on by friends en route back home, and this morning, *touch wood* I am almost back to what passes for normal.

Fortunately, when we returned, the house was still standing. Am I the only person who is pleasantly surprised to return home after even only one night away, to find that the house hasn't burnt to the ground in my absence, or expecting to round the corner on our way up the hill to see a clutch of police cars and 'Crime Scene' tape all around the front garden? I ALWAYS expect to see a smouldering heap of charred ruins, or the scene of a ghastly murder.

Anyway, it's back to work today and lots of lost time to make up. Small dog, as predicted, is fast asleep in her basket, working hard at reversing her nap deficit. I still have several hundred emails to sift through, scanning for a glimmer of gold amongst the dross. Not to mention writing up the copious notes from one of my birthday notebooks. Then in deference to the greyness outside, I may clear the decks to start some long overdue casting, in the hope that the Radio 4 afternoon play will be suitably engrossing.

And speaking of engrossing, here is small dog attempting to hypnotise my birthday cake..........