Am's got a new hat!


From the expression on her face, I'd say she's a bit concerned that it makes her look stupid. Obviously she's got nothing to worry about. And besides, rule number one in this house is that hats with ears are always a good thing. It's a rule I live by. Or I would do if I could find one in my size.

But headgear aside, the good news of the day is that the property management company who care (and I use the term loosely) for this block of flats, have finally sent someone round to clean the guttering with high pressure hoses. On the downside, they chose to do it at lunchtime, just as Lisa and I were walking out of the door with Amelie in her car seat. But still, if you're going to take your daughter up to her Grandmother's flat for the afternoon, what better way to start your journey than to walk out of the front door and into a light downpour of mud, moss and seagull droppings. If nothing else, it stops you dawdling.

Unfortunately Amelie didn't get her hat until this afternoon, so she was carried through the shower of cleaning chemicals lying on her back and looking up at the sky with her mouth open. Mind you, poisoning is the least of her worries - we had to walk under their ladder too, so we're now the unluckiest family in Brighton.

Anyhoo, I'm pleased to say that by the time I'd finished work at 5:30pm, picked up Lisa and Amelie, and returned home, the workmen had finished. On the downside, there's now a ten-foot exclusion zone of mud, excrement and filthy water surrounding the entrance to my flat, and the only one not to get her feet wet was Amelie. It's like the Somme out there, but with more bird poo.

But on the bright side, the workmen did put a note through the letterbox. To be honest, it's surprising how much mud is still on the ground, because most of it appears to be on the letter...


The trouble is, tommorow never comes. Well, not spelt like that. Let's hope the council doesn't impose a hosepipe ban before the morning.