TOO EARLY!

Well, Charles tried his best not to wake the pups at the ungodly hour of 5.30am - but it didn't work. Rose, with her Gizmo-esque ears picked up the sounds of tip-toeing though her radar - and so the day began for all of us! Lily probably wouldn't have been disturbed at all, had it not been for her sister, who was desperate to see what was going on and needed Lily to be fully awake and focused alongside her. Poor Lily - it must be hard work living with a sibling who always seems to sleep with one eye open just in case she misses anything.

By now Charles and the kids should be on their way to London. They were planning to leave school at 7am and are travelling in a very funky yellow school bus with specially printed 'We are playing at Twickenham' tee-shirts (also yellow!)

I've had the girls out for an early walk and, despite the blue sky and brilliant sunshine, discovered that it is actually so cold I had tears streaming down my face as we walked into the wind.

Had a long chat with James last night. He'll be home this evening and was expecting next week to be his last in Aberdeen, but he's been asked to stay on for a further week, so in fact he's only halfway through. I don't think he minds, although he's probably a bit fed up with staying in a Travelodge type hotel. He certainly seems to be fitting into the team up there though, and he's had few nights out (quiz, meal, football) so that will all help to pass the time and is certainly better than mooching around a hotel room all evening. (He had enough of that in New York!)

Okay - I'm going to have a cappucino and then...

... well I don't really know what comes after that, although it'll probably involve a walk with two pesky little pups!