I started the bank holiday weekend a little early by taking the afternoon off work on Friday. I used the time to cook the ‘no knead bread’ I had started the night before and to go for a photowalk in Top Wood with Dave and the dogs. Gracie was in fine posing form and Maya was just having a brilliant time.

Later, for dinner, I made omelette with a goose egg and hen eggs I had got from my Mum. I added chard and thyme from the garden and we ate it with the bread I had just cooked. For pudding we had vanilla ice cream with stewed rhubarb that our neighbour gave us.

Saturday was spent knitting, walking the dogs, playing Frisbee with Dave and Gracie, tidying the house and eating tasty food. We had scrambled eggs (from Mum) and bacon (from Hillstown Farm Shop) for lunch. For dinner we had sausage and bean bake with a pile of buttered ‘no knead bread’.

On Sunday we went walking – a fine stroll, into the wind, along Portstewart Strand. Back at home we dozed, then we ate pasta with aubergine (cooked by Dave), then back to sleep.

Monday we took easy – I made oatcakes for lunch, which we ate with melted cheese and more of our bacon. It was a rainy day so we just went walking to Waterfoot Beach – nothing too strenuous. Then I visited my Granny. Later we had lightly smoked salmon, béarnaise sauce, mashed potatoes and puy lentils for dinner. All cooked by Dave and a marvellous job it was! I ate until I thought I would burst.

Last night I dreamt that there was something wrong with daylight – it was broken – and everything was the colour of a film negative but 3-dimensional.

So, that is what I have been up to. What is coming up is a week away in France, happy me! We leave on Saturday for a week in a wooden cabin in the Dordogne. Sadly, the dogs aren’t able to join us on this trip and will have to spend a week in the Leighinmohr Dog Hotel. On our return we will stop over in London for a night and maybe take in a few sights. I can’t wait!

· Examining my face up close
· Checking my diary for possible medical appointment dates
· Making an appointment to go see my dentist
· Looking at a world standard times map
· Staring into space – deep in thought

I’m sure there are better things I could have been doing – like working. I often complain that I do not have enough time to do all the things I want to do, but surely if I spent less time arsing around I would have all the time I need.

I decided that over the weekend I would make up for my time wasting by doing some stuff that I had been putting off for ages. I did the following -

· Repaired the worn out denim in one of my favourite denim jackets. I wouldn’t say that the result is in any way subtle, but I am happy.

· Finished a pair of Jaywalker socks that according to my Ravelry project stats were started in July 2007!!!

· Photographed various knitted items to update my Ravelry project details.

· Took photos of Dave for possible use on his new website.
· Made roast chicken with all the trimmings.

I am happy that I made good use of my time.

Yesterday Nelly, Dave and I went for a walk in Portglenone Forest with the dogs (Gracie, Maya, Bonnie and Paddy). The dogs had a beezer time and Nelly and Dave nearly poisoned themselves eating Lords and Ladies.

Dave had picked up a leaf he thought was sorrel and asked my opinion – I didn’t think it was sorrel, but I couldn’t be sure. So, Dave and Nelly tore off a wee bit each and put it in their mouths and almost immediately both spat it out declaring it was definitely not sorrel.

Then their tongues started to burn a bit, and their lips. We all tried to figure out what they could possibly have eaten and whether or not they would collapse in the forest and die. Nelly eventually figured it out – Lords and Ladies – and I had a right old giggle at the thought of the pair of eejits nearly poisoning themselves.

Take the other day when I was looking for two suitable nails to hang up my magnetic notice board. I looked in the toolbox and found nothing, so I looked around the house for any spare nails that had already been hammered into walls. I found two in one of the top floor bedrooms and yanked them out.

Dave: Where did you find the nails?

Me: Oh, you meant what room?

On Saturday I went to St George’s Market with my mum and sister. Gracie went to Cully and spent the day being chased around Pearlie’s mobile by Bonnie the German Shepherd.

On Sunday we climbed Slieve Donard and were rewarded with a bit of a view, our last attempt had been in very poor visibility. Gracie decided that she has a thing against men carrying walking poles, or who look a bit like Willie Drennan. After climbing the big mountain, we drove home and I made a very tasty roast chicken dinner. I was fit for nothing afterwards and fell asleep at 9.45.

On Monday, still sore from climbing the previous day, we went to Ballycastle where D was going diving from. Things were not going well from the start. The Bank Holiday turned out to be predictably grey and overcast. There were only two other divers along with D, whose diving buddy didn’t show up. Gracie and I were offered a wee sail in the boat. It wasn’t exactly the nicest day for a boat trip but my aching legs told me that it would be much easier than going for a walk. Gracie vibrated most of the time she was in the boat, from fear and cold.

The diving was called to a halt when the other two divers had equipment troubles and came back on board. D spent a little extra time in the water trying to free an anchor and then we headed back to shore. The boat ride was fun.

To make up for Gracie’s terrible morning being vibrodog we took her for a walk along the beach in Ballycastle. Sadly, the walk was not so pleasant for me as D spent most of it laughing at my having walked into a lamppost by the marina. I gave the lamppost quite a thump. It was the classic, stupid, looking the wrong way while moving forward walk into a lamppost. My glasses made a crunch noise and I yelped. Immediately my forehead came out with a large bump and I think I may have given my nose a hairline fracture (it still hurts). So, yes, the walk wasn’t so pleasant. The only thing that made the pain go away was a big feed of scallops and chips from Morton’s.

Gracie has been with us for nearly a year now and I wouldn’t be without her, even though she is spoilt rotten. I remember that this time last year I was over excited at the prospect of getting her.

We left her with her Aunt Hannah and Uncle Jamie for the night last Thursday. Apparently, she whined most of the night. She will have to have a few more practice nights away from home before we head away for our holidays in the new year. While Miss-Tiss whined all night, I pined for her.

Dave tries to do something every day to reduce his carbon footprint, so, on Thursday he turned the thermostat on the boiler down a degree and on Friday he turned it down again. On Saturday he crashed our car. Though, to be honest, he didn’t try to crash it, rather he was hit by another car which had lost control on a slushy road. Our car is wrecked, but Dave is okay. He has a few bruises and a sore neck and knee. We spent a few days car-less then got a hire car at the expense of the crasher’s insurance.

The worst thing for Dave was that he was on his way to Ballycastle for what would have been his last dive of the season. He didn’t get to dive, but that’s okay ’cause he’ll get a dive or two in Mexico in February.