Home Alone

I managed to wake before the alarm this morning, which was impressive as it had been set for twenty to five!

The reason for the early rising was that I had been emotionally blackmailed in to taxiing 30% to Birmingham Airport in time for a 6.20 flight to Houston via Paris. At this point in the narrative I should also point out that my waking was not exactly self-induced as ... how can I put it ... 30% can be a noisy sleeper!

We hit the roads shortly after four, thirty and it came as no surprise that we had a clear run through to the airport. After all, who in their right mind would be driving around at this time in the morning.

After saying our farewells I headed back home and walked through the door at a little after six o'clock. I was far too awake to return to my bed so I took a very leisurely approach to the first three hours of my day using them for reading, drinking coffee and breakfasting.

First proper job of the day was to remove a set of Land Rover wheels and tyres from the front cellar, photograph them and get them advertised on eBay. That sentence makes it sound so straightforward, but  the fact that the first 20 minutes of this task involved secateurs, brambles and an abundance of Cotoneaster gave some idea of how it was likely to pan out. I eventually gained access and dragged the wheel rims and rubber in to the sunlight. They had lain there for many years* and were covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs. An hour of cleaning removed enough of the grime and the photos were taken. I then headed on to the house to write the copy and start yet another eBay auction.

This was the last of the eBay listing items on my to do list but I don't feel that they can actually be crossed out until the auctions have ended and the items have actually gone. As a result my list currently contains an attractive set of pink highlighted stripes to indicate that I have actually done something.

This activity consumed the morning and after a light lunch it was time to head around the Three Miler; gorgeous in the July sunshine. After that I am afraid that the early morning finally caught up with me and I fell asleep on the sofa.

During the course of the early evening I finally made contact with TP and learnt that he would not be back from his Snowdonia Geography Field Trip until late so I dined alone on a chilli con carne created from yesterday's leftover bolognese sauce.

TP eventually called at around nine o'clock and I headed over to school to collect him. He said he had had a great time and had even made an ascent of Snowdon earlier in the day. Understandably shattered, he didn't hang around long once we got home before heading off to his bed.

Shortly after ten the 'phone rang again and this time it was 30% informing me that she had arrived safely and extolling the delights of Business Class flights and a suite at the Houston, Hilton.  We caught up on each other's news and then I headed for my bed wondering what the hell I was going to feed TP tomorrow.

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* since I found a shiny set of alloys for the Defender and I think this was back in 2009.