We are still here...........

Just so you know, Europe is still here. 11.11 came and went with a count down to the end of the world on Sky News, and no aliens emerged from the French mountain with a spaceship to save the selected few. So the dusting still needs to be done, the bills still need to be paid, and the washing still needs to be dried.

I could have done without that list.

I can't tell you how great it is to have David home - one child back and the rest arrive tomorrow. I started cooking supper when we got home and he immediately came to the kitchen and started prepping the veg. It was so good to see him across the table too. And we chatted till late about life, uni, work, dreams and the end of the world. Which was supposed to be imminent.

I am happy to announce that New Zealand, Australia, South Africa Switzerland and France have all checked in so far. We are still rolling on. Towards Christmas.

I do not want to see another shop. Ever. We will of course, need milk and bread but the kids can sort that one on a daily basis. I don't need either! We picked David up from the centre of town last night, and wandered into a couple of shops while we were there. Lots on sale, but not lots of people. Queues were short, if any at all. And this has to be a real problem for retailers and for the economy. To have fiscal growth, one has to have a populace which is spending, and from what I am seeing, no, they are not. On-line sales are high, but town is becoming such a depressing place. I simply have no desire to go there.

I was on duty in the Traidcraft shop for a couple of hours this afternoon with Glynis, and bought a 2 litre bottle of milk on the way there, which I left in the car. Well, when the time to make the coffee rolled around, there was no milk, so I got the one from the car and that was when I discovered that it had a hole in it. Shriek. The car seat is damp, and I have a very good idea of what it is going to smell like soon. I took it back to the shop over the road, and they finally replaced it. I did mention that they may be hearing from me if my car ended up smelling the way I have a suspicion it will. Thank heavens it is winter.

I remember one of my children being sick all over the handbrake area between the front seats of my car when only a baby. That milky smell in summer lives on in the memory. That was in Cape Town many moons ago. Leaky milk bottles do not thrill me. Bear in mind that today was also the day when, despite what I said up there at the top of this post, I had to return to another very nice supermarket because my mother discovered some enormous label thing, which she worried was a plaster, in the middle of the fresh soup she was heating. The fresh soup she had already started on yesterday. They were very apologetic and will be writing to me as soon as they have investigated further.

THEN (my life is really exciting) I stopped to get a little petrol, and the already wonky petrol cover fell off, and I couldn't find my trusty roll of gaffer tape, so had to drive to a DIY store, buy some more, queue for ages and then stick it back on. Gaffer tape becomes more dear to me as time marches on.

So, after paying the phone bill, which arrived today and has to be paid by 28th December - how unreasonable is that - I was ready for a rest while sitting in the Traidcraft shop. Chatting to Glynis.

The rest of my family arrive tomorrow afternoon, so life is about to shift up a gear or ten, and it is going to be lovely. I can't wait to have them all here under my roof for a few days! A cinnamon cake will be baked in the morning. Then the baking will grind to a halt for now. Unless we run out of anything..........

And I still have a pile of Christmas cards here waiting to be delivered. Oops.