Ups and down.

Another wonderful day began with rain and not a little bit. I guess that it was almost a carbon copy of yesterday. Ingrid went to Pilates and Mom and I stayed at home in our pyjamas. I did quite a bit of the puzzle and Mom sat on the couch and caught up with some of her contacts. A text or a voice message went out to the people she wanted to contact. People are apparently not so good at answering their phones when one phones nowdays. 

Ingrid and I had a date with Mother in law in law for coffee at 10h30 and she picked us up just before to avoid the rush when the gym class next to the the coffee shop enden. Avoid the rush. Ingrid and Father in law in law had toasted banana cake and Mother in law in law did what I think was a date ball thingy with her coffee. We had a good time and the conversation flowed nicely. Thanks for the coffee and cake!

The shop around the corner that Ingrid has had her eye on for the past few days was once again closed so we drove past back to Jackpot. The rain had since downsized from extra large to small. A light drizzle, but enough to get you wet if you spent more than 1 minute outside. Puzzle for me. It was a day to finish it and I have to say that it seemed to go quicker than I thought that it would.

After lunch I went for the obligatory afternooner which was like the best in this weather. I was woken by Ingrid who had done her homework. The shop would close at 15h00 so we did need to get there before it closed. Mom and Ingrid got into the car and I drove to the city centre to the shop. Just before we got there my Dad phoned and I dismissed his call as I was driving and we were seconds away from the shop. Ingrid and Mom went into the store and I phoned Dad back.

Dad does not usually call just to catch up, although he does like to catch up after the business end of the call is taken care of. He had a question and needed my opinion. It was pretty logical to me which step/s he had to take and I advised him of what in my opinion was the only viable option. Got it. Check! I asked whether he was coming out for the weekend and his reply was to be expected. Let's wait and see what the weekend brings weather wise. My Dad, unlike my Mom needs to have something to do and here we do very little actually. Anyhow, we will wait and see.

I finished off the call and within a few moments Ingrid and Mom got back into the car. A tell tale brown paper bag was in Ingrid's hands. Score! We drove off to the Village for some soup, a tip off from Mother in law in law. At the supermarket they were out and Ingrid asked after it and was told that they were in the process of cooking up a new batch for tomorrow. Back into the car and to the next option. Here they had frozen butternut soup so we bought 2 packets and went to Baker Barry for that excellent Ciabatta. Score, score, score. We were set for the evening meal.

Back at Jackpot Ingrid and I got down to our weekly clean. I did the vacuuming and Ingrid went over the floors with the mop. The bathrooms also got a once over and probably within 30 minutes we were ready for a cup of coffee. To finish on a high, the puzzle got finished. It really is a beauty of a leopard. Stunning concentration on the cat's face. 

Ingrid and Mom got stuck into the ntext episode of they series and were on the last episode of seaons 2. I guess that they will also start on season 3 in my absence. It is Wednesday time trial in the surfski. I did not have to tie my surfski on Dusty's roof as I had made arrangements to paddle with Frank in his double ski. He would bring the ski. 

Just before I left I explained the Netflix account to Mom. Each account can have 4 users and if you only use one of the users or all of them the cost is the same. That made sense to Mom as she is a user on one of my brothers accounts and was worried that he was paying extra for her. No Mother. It is not your Netflix account, but brother's and you are one of the users. She twigged and appears to have understood.

Into Dusty and the rain and off to the time trail. My paddle mate arrived and I was confused. He had a ski on his roof and I went and jumped into the passenger seat and he asked if I was ready. Well... I did not know how we were both going to paddle on the ski as he had a single ski on his roof. 1 person only. When I told him, he was surprised???? Yes, you have a single ski on your roof, not a double. 

Yikes. I would have just paddled my ski and he his, but I had not brought mine due to our previous arrangement. Off to his house to unload and load the correct ski. We arrived 7 and a 1/2 minutes late at the start, but set off anyway just to test the partnership. I have to say that it worked from the get go and we think that we paddled a respectable time after all. The results will show a 32 minute something seconds time, but if we take 7 and a 1/2 minurtes off we can sort of round it off to 25 minutes... we have to wait for the official time alter tonight. I was happy with the time. Perhaps if we started with the others our time may have been a little better. Who knows?

Just as I was about to get into Dusty the heavens opened once again and I ran and dove in and slammed the door shut. I had forgotten my towel and so I had to sit on the seat in my wet paddle shorts. Next time I will ask Ingrid to pack for me. Now for my last little problem. The soft top roof racks come through the side of the door seal and water leaks along the rope and into the car. Back out of the car and release both roof racks and throw them in the boot before once again getting into Dusty, more wet than the last time.

The road home was uneventful, but it was now dark and in the driving rain (heehee) it was not so easy to see too far ahead. Caution advised and speed down low. Arrive alive! It was not cold, but the  warm shower was welcome. Ingrid got to heating up the soup and I cut the Chiabatta. Butternut soup it was, with a lot of coconut and it was pretty sweet. I do not think. Restore! We will not be buying that soup again.

Ingrid and Mom are into part 2 of season 3. Mom got up from the table and announced, Come on Ingrid we must go and watch our series. Lol! My Mom with square eyes!

Daughter Fleur began her last internship for her college today. She applied to do it at the vacation park where we had a vacation house for 12 years. Our little house is still standing and she said that she had been inside today to have a look. She sound extremely excited for the coming 5 or so months and we are sure that this will be a wonderful learning and growing experience for our young lady. COME ON SUMMER! (We are going into summer in Holland). She is going to love it I am sure. Probably there will be days when she will think..hmmm, but life is always a bit ups and downs. We think MANY MANY ups for our dear Fleur.

Daughter Bo is at home with slightly other problems. Fleur is no longer at home and Toby is now Bo's responsibility. Just like Fleur there will be ups and downs, but Bo is a great person and will get the job done.

I do feel like it is time to go home to our kids and the dog. We miss them terribly and have to date had the MOST wonderful time and there is more to come. Watch this space!