Me on Monday

 Can you hear that?  The sound of not very much at all? That's what you call 'the calm before the storm' - I predict this week is going to be noisy and chaotic and I will grow a few extra grey hairs by the end of it.

Let me talk you though it.  Rachel and family are going to visit James' family for a few days starting today.  Their plans include a visit to Paulton's Park theme park and a trip on a steam train.  Neither of which will be enhanced by the presence of a small black dachshund.  So we have Daisy coming to stay for four days.

Then on Monday we had a call from Jon to say they had a leak in the tank in their loft and when the plumber came to investigate he suggested that when he came to fix it properly, it may be an idea to also replace the 25 year old boiler which has been limping along for a couple of years now.  Their house is very old and the plumber said that he did not know how much extra work may need to be done to the old pipework until he lifted the floor boards.  Which may mean that they will be without water and intermittent electricity for up to a week in a worst case scenario.  'Do you think we could come and stay with you while it's being done?'  Of course they could and he went back to the plumber to agree a date for the work to be started.  'I can start on Monday if you like'. So now we also have two adults and two children while we have Daisy here.

I spent much of the weekend getting Jon's old bedroom ready for them to stay in.  Years ago we pushed the bed up against the wall on one side so that when grandchildren came to stay they couldn't roll out of bed that way.  But that's not too convenient when two adults are sleeping there so I decided it was time to bite the bullet and pull out everything from under the bed, move the bed then only put back things that needed to be out of sight and out of mind, like my growing supplies of wool and craft equipment.  Oh the things we found under there.  I knew there were a few folders of paperwork he had put under there but a lot of it was old school work, student finance confirmations, work towards his dissertation and the acceptance letter from Sheffield University offering him a place to study politics ... in 2008!  I also found a large ziplock bag absolutely full to the brim with t shirts from bands that he had seen before he got married.  He must have bought a t shirt at every venue and he went to a LOT!  'Do you want to keep these?'  I asked. 'Oh yes, definitely, there's so many memories there.'  'Do you want to take them to your house?’ ‘I haven't really got room.'  So they are back under the bed!  Tiring work but the room looks so much better now there's space either side and everything had a good (overdue) dust and vacuum.

On Friday we had a call from the decorator that we booked to repaint the external paintwork to our house.  We had contacted him months ago with the agreement that he would book us in when he had a gap in his workload once the weather looked settled.  'I've got a free week next week if that suits you'.  Now let's add a workman to the mix!  I will have to keep a close eye on Daisy because what she lacks in stature she makes up for in attitude.  Did I ever tell you about the time that Rachel found their plumber taking refuge in the cupboard under the sink with Daisy trying to drag him out by his sock?  

We had also agreed to look after my niece's hamster when she went on holiday 'sometime in August' and she contacted me on Friday to say their flights were booked for this Thursday so could she pop in to drop off Pumpkin on Thursday evening?

So just to add a little stress to the mix, it's also my turn to host Knit and Natter this Friday!  So there's cake to be baked and lunch to be made.  Wish me luck, it's going to be a long week.  What do we have planned for the weekend?  Absolutely nothing - bliss!