The Outlaws #1 - The Pattern of Our Days

Nikki's folks arrived safely yesterday around 11.30. This is the fourth time they've visited and their first stay in the new house (their visit last year coincided with our move - they spent a week surrounded by packing cases and our movers arrived about two hours after we'd taken them to the airport) so Neil hadn't seen the house at all, and Shirley had only had a brief tour.

Normally their flights arrive earlier and there's time for a refreshing nap to readjust the body clock, but this year things were a little different and Neil was keen to get his first bet on at William Hill's.

This establishes the pattern of activity for the week, barring those few days when we go sightseeing or family reunioning:

• Have breakfast
• Take Neil to the paper shop and leave him studying the day's form for an hour or so
• Take Neil to the bookies and make sure he knows where the pub is
• Nikki and Shirley go off to do girly stuff
• I come home and entertain myself for a few hours
• We all meet up in the pub and have a couple of early evening drinks
• Back home for dinner

This arrangement worked extremely well in the old house, which was walking distance from the paper shop, the bookies AND the pub. Here it's not so good, as we don't have any of those things within walking distance, so it's a drive to and from the newsagents, pause, drive to and from the bookies, pause, drive to and from the pub.

But hey! I'm on holiday. It's a nice change from the pressure of work, the pressure of decorating, and pretty much any other pressure you can think of. My afternoon reverie (well, I say "reverie." Actually I was unpacking the grocery shopping that I'd just brought home, having delivered Nikki and Shirley to the bookies) was disturbed somewhat yesterday by an unexpected call:
"Hello, this is the florists."
"Err...yes?"
"We've got a gentleman here called Neil, who says he's something to do with you."
"Err, yes."
"Can you come and pick him up please? He's a little bit lost."
"I'll be right there."

It's an easy mistake to make when you're not familiar with the territory - a single wrong turn and you by-pass the pub and end up at the florist's. I picked him up, dropped him at the pub, and went home to finish putting away the leeks.