Hello, how’s things? Hope you are all well. Sorry I’m a bit late getting this post to you this week – life is just incredibly busy and tiring. The good news is that I’m off on annual leave for two weeks. Yippee! Am not going anywhere, but plan to catch up on household things like painting the downstairs toilet (I enjoy painting) and getting to grips with the usual ironing mountain. I also plan to do some stuff that I want to do instead of stuff I have to do, but don’t really want to. I basically am looking for a bit of peace and quiet (difficult in this house) to read and chill out. Sigh…am looking forward to it already.

When I say I’ve been busy, I really have. It’s been a whirlwind of work, hospital appointments, running the kids to school and to other places, washing, ironing, food shopping and…it goes on and on and on.

Here’s what I did that I really enjoyed :

1. My colleague Marion left so we went to a local Brazillian restaurant for lunch. Dinner was nice and it was great to give her a good send-off. I’ve known Marion for nearly 20 years and she’s a lovely person.  Good luck Marion on your future career!
2. I took a Heart Start CPR training course on Thursday night and now feel I could deal with someone collapsing, being unconscious or having a heart attack. Excellent course and it was free. Thanks to Heart Start for providing it. I couldn’t stop giggling though when I was acting the part of the patient lying unconscious on the floor. I couldn’t help myself, I just felt so silly.
3. Saw a couple of friends round at my house for cream cakes and tea on Friday morning…they are such a tonic the pair of them! So funny!
4. Met my very good friend AJ for lunch today. We went to a little Italian restaurant in Gibson Street in the westend of Glasgow and it was great. I haven’t seen her in months (our lives are so crazy at the moment) and it was good to catch up and have a bit of a laugh.

Millie has been keeping us all going. She is a little nuisance, but so cute with it. The other day she came bounding into the living room trailing a streamer of toilet paper behind her a la Andrex puppy! Once I had caught her (she thinks everything is a game) and prised the soggy paper out of her mouth, I started to roll it back up hoping to rescue at least most of it. Sadly it was not to be as the pup had other ideas for it. She kept jumping up and snatching the paper, so I gave up and put the whole lot in the recycling bin. There was only about half of a roll, but I was still miffed to have lost it. I hate waste.

She is a very sociable dog and insists on saying hello to everyone and every animal we meet on our walks. This is fine if it’s humans and other dogs, but the local seagulls and crows are not impressed!

I’ve just finished a biography of Millie Benson who was the original ghostwriter on the Nancy Drew books (amongst many others). I am a major Nancy Drew fan and I found it difficult to get books about  the author, I didn’t even know her real name at first, so the book I read was aimed at children. It was still a good read. I think Nancy Drew is one of the main reasons why I love murder mysteries so much. I remember the tv series from the 70s (that and The Hardy Boys…remember them?). Myself and my middle sister watched it avidly. Fantastic. I also read as many of the books as I could…borrowing most of them from our local library. I do, however, have a few Nancy Drew books of my own which I’ve given to the girl to read. She loved them. Ah yes, Nancy Drew is fantastic!!

For all you out there who were fans of Nancy Drew, here are a few pics…Here’s how I remember her from the books.

Here’s the most recent Nancy Drew, Emma Roberts (the film is good by the way)…

Here’s ‘my’ Nancy Drew from the TV show – Pamela Sue Martin.

And a final pic of the Hardy Boys – Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy.

Whoever says the 70s were rubbish didn’t watch great TV like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. Makes me all nostalgic!

On that note, am aff. Going to get a final cuppa before bed. Til next time!!

Dawn xxxx