Lotsa Great Books

..........and two new ones.

I'm shattered and having half an hour with a cuppa before I go out to collect Euan from Nursery.  

This morning, with Mummy, we accompanied Euan to Nursery and then walked down into the City and had a cuppa and pastry at Gail's Bakery, saying goodbye to Becks on her way to work.

From there we had a LONG walk basically to three of the car hire companies, trying to secure a small car for this weekend as we are off to the British Championships.  We had been very kindly offered lifts but it would have been onerous to get to the pickup place by walking, bus and train, and I have to take lots of photos so we didn't feel we could make R hang around for all that to happen!  Apparently there is a shortage of cars just now and so the first two out of three places had none to offer, indeed one place was -10 down, not sure what that means!

We deliberated some time about walking the extra 25 minutes out of town to the final place, not trusting a phone call after yesterday yet thinking we might be once more unlucky.  We decided to go for it and were lucky - well Tony has to collect it yet!

Then it was back in to the City Centre to Blackwells and Waterstones where we acquired two Louise Penny's, the newest one still in hardback featuring Inspector Gamache, and the one she has written with Hilary Rodham Clinton about a much abused and reviled woman Secretary of State who has to take over from a hapless, narcissistic President who can't spell diplomacy let alone practise it - ring any bells?  We can't visit Blackwell's without a visit to the Children's Department which is a wonderful treasure trove of stories and pictures.  Euan already has a loved Steve Small book so I thought he would like 'I'm sticking with you' all about friendship, and Oliver Jeffers was the celebrity judge on The Great British Menu recently and talked about his book 'The Day the Crayons Quit' and I thought it would appeal to Euan's sense of humour.  It's a series of letters from the crayons to their owner Duncan, complaining.  The blue one is worn to a stub colouring in lots of water and the red one is fed up of working through its holidays colouring in Santas and Valentine hearts - you get the gist.

You really can't have enough books, no matter what your age.

ps Did anyone watch the DNA programme the other night with Neil Morrissey and Adrian Dunbar - with the scene towards the end straight out of Father Ted?  We laughed out loud, was it staged do you think?  Adrian Dunbar and I said, 'You will, you will, you will!' at exactly the same time!