Lovely surprise

How sweet is this?

When I was at Denman College recently, one of the ladies attending a course was wearing what looked like some astroturf around her wrist. Intrigued, I had to take a closer look and discovered two really yummy bracelets. She admitted they were not her own work but they had been bought from a local shop in Norfolk, close to her home.

This morning, on going into the WI office, there's a parcel on my desk from Norfolk, containing a bracelet for me! Thank you Jane - I love it and I really appreciate your generosity.

I have some great friends - and I just gained another!

Is the end in sight?

Is there water at the end of the pipeline at last?!

It sounds as though we might have some kind of water supply restored by Thursday, though we are told that it will be only a "dirty water" supply and nothing we can drink or cook with. But oh, if only we could have the luxury of a flushing loo again!! It is likely to be a couple of weeks at least before our tap water will be of drinking quality, so we will continue with our trips to see those nice Army Cadets who are handing out the bottled stuff with such patience.

Saturday night

Fed up with "managing" to do the washing up with minimal water, we decided we'd go out for supper tonight with both our Mums. As we sat with our Gs and Ts in the lobby of a local hotel where the water has not been affected, we spotted several families coming in with carrier bags, being given keys by reception. We learned that a couple of local firms - Waitrose and the Stroud and Swindon Building Society - had rented rooms for their staff and their families to use whilst we have no running water.

Considerate employers, we thought.

Forgetting about water

..for a day at least. Today, some of the great unwashed went to London. (Bad description, of course we've washed!)

One proud Grandma has been eager to see where the apple of her eye works and following a promise made ages ago, we set out on the train this morning to meet Edward for lunch at "the office". Taking the train to London was an adventure in itself and all went surprisingly smoothly, thank goodness.

The timing of the taxi ride from Paddington to Westminster even coincided with the changing of the guard, making a little sightseeing en route incredibly easy.


We met Edward outside St Stephens Entrance as usual, enjoying the opportunity for a little people watching whilst we waited. There were surprisingly few people about though, and being the first day of the Summer recess, not much work was being done ;-)



The weather was kind and we were able to sit outside on the terrace for lunch with a lovely view. It was amusing to watch the tourist boats approach with everyone peering over in our direction to see what's going on. No, we didn't wave.....

After a guided tour and celebrity spotting opportunity (not good today, just 3 MPs and a Cheeky Girl!) I managed to get the two of them to stand still for just one embarrassing minute. Sorry, Edward - but the carrier bag does contain one bottle of "thanks"!

(I have been asked how I could have allowed Mummy to hang on to her shopping bag whilst I took her photo...Oh dear.....!)

It was almost 10pm when the call came through...

...that the bottled water had reached our village!

I quickly ran up the bridle path which runs along the edge of our garden to find two policemen and several young Army chaps standing with a huge stack of bottled water, there in the dark. One pack of six bottles per household - no arguments, no pushing and shoving, nothing but good tempered, civilised behaviour, together with a fair bit of consideration for our neighbours too elderly or inform to carry it home for themselves.

After three days, it was good to know we hadn't been forgotten.

Also, in answer to my recycling concerns, we were told to hang onto our empty bottles for the time being until a solution is found to recycle them. I'm pleased about that.

We have developed quite a good system for coping without water from the tap. We drink the bottled stuff. We use the water brought from a neighbouring village to wash ourselves and the pots - some of it heated in a small urn we usually use for parties. We use the water from our garden water butts to flush the loos - replenished by torrential rain once again yesterday. We haven't quite been brave enough to do as one friend did yesterday - to don swimming costume and take soap and shampoo into the garden to shower in the torrential rain! (Bob, we want one of those photos!)