Work, Work, Busy, Busy, Work, Work, Bang, Bang

Can't remember where that saying comes from. Think it has something to do with a penguin biscuit advert from when Emily was a baby, but anyway, it sums us up!

Up extraordinarily early to get to vets. Was on schedule until Emily decided at the last minute to come too and had to scramble to get ready. Kittens charmed everyone in vets waiting room. Discovered, downhearted, that Juliet's heart murmur is definitely still present. Cheered up slightly since this vet was more upbeat about it than the previous one we saw. Got back, dealt with lots and lots of post and emails. Rescued Juliet from a fight on the stairs. Cheered up even more upon discovering that Jon had cleared the playroom (of stock) while we were out, so we could start work without further delay.

Emily spelt (or is that spelled? lol) lots and lots of words entirely correctly. Nearly finished My Spelling Workbook B now, which is the 6-7 year one, so that's not bad. Emily doesn't bother with the exercises in them, we just use them for word lists of approximately what she should now be able to spell. Rescued Romeo from a close encounter with the loo. Listened to an animated explanation of how come she can spell this stuff when asked to, but doesn't bother spelling it right when she's writing something of her own. Apparently she's in too much of a hurry to get her thoughts down to bother with the spelling. Fair enough. Sure as hell not going to start correcting her spelling in everything she writes or she'll lose the enthusiasm she currently has for composing her own stuff. Time for that (much) later if it's still necessary by then.

Lots of maths, mostly adding and subtracting in tens from a given number. Tried to coax Juliet out of a post-vaccination sulk and into a purr. Failed. Giggled as Emily corrected a KS1 science workbook which was talking about the senses in terms of "feeling" and "seeing". Nope, that should be touch and sight, thank you very much! Fiddled about on computer as Emily had lunch up here with Jon, watching schools TV. Despaired at how rude some customers can be. Despaired at how daft some customers can be. Reminded self that most are lovely and after all have impeccable taste if they're ordering from us. Rescued Romeo from a close encounter with the swivel chair.

Talked more about Van Gogh. Looked at a gallery of his most famous works. Emily created a word doc showing the ones she liked best. Added that to the rapidly growing wall display. Left her to write out four interesting facts about Van Gogh from her book. Was later amused to discover her choice of wording. Pointed out subtly that "completely loopy" was not a very polite term to use when writing about one of the world's most gifted artists. Even if he did chop off a bit of his ear. And then shoot himself. Made mental note to revise "senstive handling of those suffering from depression" in Emily's life skills department. Tried again to coax Juliet out of her sulk. Failed. Gathered together our large collection of Roman resources to see what was what for imminent use. Emily informed me that she already knows a lot about Romans (this is true) and that she therefore wants to work on Vikings instead. Pinned smile on face. Wished she's said that a week or two ago before Roman resources were quite so extensive. Put away extensive Roman resources. Gathered very unextensive Viking resources. Indulged in retail therapy and ordered some Viking stuff from one of our book wholesalers. Patted self on back for being very restrained and only ordering a few items from series we've had and enjoyed before with Egypt and Tudors.

Helped Emily mix paints in shades of red and pink to paint her Van Gogh inspired version of the sunflowers. Except we don't have any sunflowers left, so it turned out to be "Rose, Fuschias and Begonia in a Vase" instead. Very creditable attempt. Added that and the fact sheet to the wall display. Persuaded Romeo not to eat the wallpaper. Loaded Sim Park for Emily and sat with her while she played it. Not impressed. Tried again to coax Juliet out of sulk. Finally succeeded in getting a purr with the help of some milk drop treats. Tried to persuade Romeo that my fingers were not food. Tried to persuade big cat Merlin not to growl at the kittens. Failed. Tried to persuade big cat Merlin to stay in the room longer than a minute with the kittens. Failed. Searched for big cat Cassie. Failed. Rescued Romeo from grandad's room at - gasp - the wrong side of the barrier that stops them getting to the front door. Had a rethink on ways to stop kittens getting to front door. Failed to come up with anything.

Still worrying about that one hours later. Cheered up slightly on doing a home cholesterol test and discovering that mine's only 4.4, not the life threatening level I had happily imagined it to be. Jon needs to test his later, although since they automatically threw medication at him for cholesterol when he was diagnosed with diabetes, it had better be reasonable. Now ready for a decent meal and a glass of wine.