And - relax

Isn't my amaryllis looking fine? I can never bear to throw them away after they've flowered so I have a rather large collection and they never look at all interesting for 360 days of the year, so I'm keen to admire their beauty when they are flowering.

Thank you for your suggestions for our viewing. Duly noted. We've now watched three episodes of "Desperate Housewives" and I'm getting sucked in. It's interesting how Americans seem to like "Downton Abbey" and other British things (I couldn't get into "DA" though I didn't really try very hard, being busy at the time) and we're watching American programmes. Part of what I quite like about "DH" is the perfection of their houses and gardens and yes, I realise that it's all completely unrealistic but all the same it's quite beguiling. (Why doesn't my house look like that? And my grass?) And of course I want to know why Mary Alice killed herself and what was in the trunk that her husband threw in the lake. Or was it a river? (Though I could actually - and probably will - persuade Daughter 2 to tell me.)

Gosh, we've had a stressful few days, though, concerning our daughters' work. Daughter 1 got herself all worried about going to meetings today in her place of employment to discuss her going back to work - but it all went well and in fact they've reorganised things to make her job less impossible to do in the time available - which is good. And Daughter 2 may be about to change jobs ... which hopefully will turn out well but ... anyway. As she said in a recent email, Eeeek.

You never consider such matters when you decide to have a baby. You don't envisage any of the real stresses, such as them getting jobs, not getting jobs, finding partners, finding jobs where their partners are ... .

While Daughter 1 was at these three (three!) meetings, I was taking my mother on a theatre visit and Mr Life was babysitting. It's a long time since he looked after a baby all by himself - indeed I don't remember it ever happening very often - but all went well and he's now slumped on the sofa in the recovery position, draped in cats.