Profit and loss

Nothing like a bit of office work to bring you down to earth. I’ve just printed out a quotation, which took up some of the afternoon. That’s the problem with having the boss on the premises. Work can occur at any time of night and on any weekend. And my particular hate is taking dictation. M reminds me of the panellists on I’m sorry I haven’t a Clue when they are playing the game which requires them not to finish a sentence. Just as I’ve put in a full stop, he comes up with another clause in the never-ending piece of prose.

And you know what came in the post, yesterday? A warning from the VATman. Because of my lateness in submitting the return. All sorts of advice along with the warning of future fines – but how do you programme the visit of a five year old granddaughter into that equation?

More work on the shower base today, which is still saturated and needs drying out. In the meantime, there is no soap tray in the other shower (in the bath), and whilst under it today, M had to locate the slippery soap on the hand basin. It shot out of his hand, landing in the bath, and M promptly skidded on it and took a nose dive into the bath himself. This prompted us to fit a magnetic soap holder which I’ve had in the house for certainly five years, awaiting the right moment. Ill wind, as they say…



The Gawain book launch went very well yesterday. The Abbots Hospital, in Guildford High Street, was picturesque, see above, and the rain held off most of the time. The reading was well received and sales were excellent, mainly of The Gawain Quest but a few of our others – including mine – in addition. I was delighted to be told by a couple of the guests that they’d enjoyed A Bottle of Plonk. The Gawain Quest is now on sale at our website, http://www.goldenford.co.uk/ and follow the link to books.

With half an hour to go before closing time, I dragged an unwilling husband to Clarke’s to buy some shoes and sandals to replace the antiquated ones he couldn’t bear to throw away. He hates shopping, but with the car parked and us right in the centre of the shops, it was an opportunity to good to be missed. The good news – it was the first day of the sale and we saved around £35 on our two purchases.

Alas, as we returned to the car, which M had refused to park in the car park, as a matter of some incomprehensible principle, we spotted two parking attendants on patrol, obviously hoping to catch those people who park at 5.45, trying to get away with a bit of free parking. M had parked in a spot unmarked by lines and had got away with it on previous occasions. This time he didn’t. So the bad news - a parking fine of £60. The good news – if we pay up straight away, it’s reduced to £30. So with the benefits of the shoe sale, you could say we almost broke even on the day.