THANK YOU...

... to James and Kate who have done a fantastic job of looking after the puppies today. It sounds as though you all had a good day, especially as you recklessly offered to do it again sometime!
Our visit to Newcastle was useful, but a little frustrating. It seemed to take forever to get into town, although once we were in we managed to get the shopping we needed relatively easily. Lunch was a letdown. We decided to go to John Lewis's cafe for a 'quick' meal before the match, only to find that everyone else had had the same idea. (although I'm not sure they were all going on to the match afterwards) I hate queueing at the best of times, but managed to get it all wrong today. Charles was patiently waiting in the queue for his soup and sandwich while I set off for my chilli crepe, only to find that this was the most popular counter in the whole place. A family of about eight were deliberating which crepes they we going to have and this is where I lost the plot, because for some reason I chose that very moment to go back to Charles to see how he had progressed in his queue, only to find, by the time I returned to mine that the eight family members had all ordered and there was now a twenty minute wait. (How long do crepes take to cook for goodness sake?) I should have ordered my food while they were making their minds up. Anyway, it wasn't a twenty minute wait, it was more like forty, by which time Charles had eaten and I'd drunk a large cappuccino and a ginger beer and been to the loo twice and was in a pretty lousy mood because it meant throwing a very hot chilli crepe down my neck in record speed so we could get to SJP in time.
Of course, when I say, we had to get there 'in time' I don't mean for kick off, what I mean is I like to be in my seat at least half an hour before the match starts so I can 'soak up the atmosphere'. This is all well and good, except I'm beginning to realise that actually there isn't that much atmosphere to soak up any more.
I'm not going to say any more about the match, other than it's a miracle we win ANY games at all.
We managed to get through town and all the match traffic really quickly and were back home just after 5.30, half expecting to find James and Kate tearing their hair out and the puppies running riot. But there was none of that. The puppies had been really good and James and Kate had even managed to cook a meal, relax in the living room and entertain some of their friends. Kate had even done some work on her presentation for Uni. So, hats off to them, they've coped brilliantly!
Anyway, they've gone home now, although I may be meeting James again tomorrow to go back to town for some more shopping!! (although that will depend on how much of a lie in he decides to have!)