[SC tiptoes in to thread sporting slippers lightly dusted with icing sugar] The entire household is sleeping, except for me and the dog who has just enjoyed a bit of quality time curled up on a blanket in the sunshine on the terrace (alongside me drinking tea on a bench) whilst looking mournfully at my breakfast.
DD is exhausted from school fete yesterday (I love the way pre-teens run around excitedly creating mini-dramas about lost bits of costume, or people who haven't turned up yet, get in to huddles, then run around again, then come over to you and explain the situation excitedly with great urgency and great relish without waiting for a reply, then rush off with their friends again ... for five hours 
)
Dh is completely whacked having very nobly done 7 round trips to school yesterday ferrying balloons, drinks, cakes, and various people.
Everything went really well though (last one at this school so quite sad [dabs corner of eye with handkerchief] ) and much fun was had by all (and hopefully lots of money raised). Rested my stumps at home afterwards watching a bit of Eurovision but gave up half way through and went to bed!
Friday was fairly challenging with last minute fabric buying and sewing to do plus the making of 68 portions of cake, + managed four loads of washing + cooked healthy supper as felt we all needed a vitamin boost.
House was a complete tip when we got home last night. I've done the first clear up of downstairs this morning ie mopping up of blobs of glacé icing sugar and stray cake crumbs etc off the floor combined with clearing away last night's takeaway and bits of fabric and cotton from last minute costume making, stacking the dishwasher, loading the recycling, tidying up stray cups and plates and chucking away rubbish and any general surface detritus.
Still have to do bits of hand washing up, a load of ironing for next week and general planning for another mega weekend next weekend and houseful of Confirmation guests. Plus it's a holiday here tomorrow.
But really want to sort boudoir today (or make significant in-roads) if I have the energy/time.
Thanks for links Grey [chucks half a pkt of custard creams at 
scratches his scales nonchalantly and sends him to track down Bless among her pile of statistical analysis books ]
Dogsbum enjoy your chaise longue 
.
Yes, we are starting to feel a bit iffy about previous owners too tbh. (Regretting the baby presents and thank you letters we sent them with photos about a fortnight after his arrival!)
If I'd known then what I know I would have sent them a very different letter I think because the dog arrived in what appeared to be fairly good nick, but on closer investigation, his condition was obviously not good, he'd obviously had a very dubious start in life and has been neglected since. We realise now that he had been taken to a grooming parlour just before we got him (he smelt of some sort of scented soap) which masked some of the signs of neglect but couldn't hide the long-term maintenance issues such as ears and teeth and, most importantly, under-feeding and neglect to administer mandatory injections etc.
The trainer made the rather chilling observation that some people under-feed dogs to diminish their energy and make them more amenable/controllable.
Furry one is definitely a bit bouncier, a bit more barky now he is filling out, and we had another unfortunate agression/guarding incident the other night when he nipped my hand (didn't break skin, tiny pinprick but still) when I tried to move him off the sofa in playroom and in to his bed in hall when we were all going upstairs to sleep. Spoke to trainer about it the next day and she explained how to overcome this and said that dogs who have been mistreated and underfed often become very territorial over the things they do have. Cannot risk this behaviour developing though with dd and her friends in the house and we often have very young dc here too, so absolutely cannot take any chances.
(I'm making the dog sound really awful here - he isn't - he is incredibly friendly 99.9% of the time. We just have to be very, very cautious with how we handle him, particularly so because of his high intelligence.)
To be fair to previous owners though, if they had been thoroughly unscrupulous, they could have charged us for him (teckels fetch about Euros 425 here) but gave him to us free. (I know, I know, we were hugely naieve too!)
Also to be fair, the male half of the couple seemed genuinely sad to see him go, (the wife not so much) - there was a second marriage situation with new baby. Life situations change unexpectedly so one shouldn't judge really. And we are in this for the long haul now (and anticipated and expected problems) so it makes no difference. But I still don't understand why they would underfeed him or neglect his veterinary care though, one never knows, but they certainly didn't seem impoverished in any way. It's all a bit of a mystery... like with your sister's dog Swan. If only they could talk eh?
And trainer does think that there is hope btw, just that it will take a lot of time and patience - and family consistency - which is more of a challenge where dh is concerned tbh!!
Swan at silent, gesture-based child training Sounds as if you need a rest today too after your action packed Saturday!
Well done with your long ta da list Toffee! And so sorry to hear that your dmum is going through such hard times. They do say it is best not to make any serious decisions (such as buying and selling property) for six months following a bereavement but of course can understand why she wants to move nearer to you as soon as possible; must be terribly bitter sweet for her. I hope the GP was helpful wrt her headaches anyway.
Oops - I can hear bodies stirring - had better stop typing and get going!
Enjoy your Bank Holidays weekends everyone!