Autumn half -term

Half-term is here again. The children have two weeks off school. Rosie is in Germany this week on a hockey tour and is back tomorrow. I took Harry to visit my mum yesterday. An almost 400 miles round trip to spend 3 hours with her but it was worth it. It was a beautiful day and we went to Rivington and drove over Belmont. We saw for miles and could see Blackpool tower, the sea at Lytham from the top of Belmont, close to Winter Hill. The Autumnal colours looked stunning as a result of the sunshine-which is rare in that part of the country. My mum enjoyed her drive and we stopped off at Ikea in Birmingham on the way home and bought a few bits of tat. Much to our surprise Ikea have stopped selling Dime chocolate which was the sole purpose of the visit to the shop.

Back home a friend came round for the evening and we drove into town to drop Charlie off to go clubbing! I am in a whole new phase of parenting with Charlie as he has discovered clubs. He came in at 4am with a friend and they are both still asleep. He will be 18 in 3 weeks time and I am hoping that his new found freedom won't deter him from other more important things in his life right now.

We're all off to Interlaken for a few days at the week-end. Looking forward to spending precious family time together as I am very much aware that the children are growing up and Charlie will be at university this time next year.

Other highlights during the last couple of weeks include, Graham's parents coming over last Sunday for tea, two trips to Cambridge and a meal with friends at Browns and Harry playing in Evan Roger's band at church. We had a great multicultural celebration at church at the weekend with a huge party and dancing and singing . Apparently there are people from 28 different nations who are part of our church, which is amazing and worthy of celebration. Church is a reflection of our town's diverse population which it ought to be. The two services are going well with 191 people at the 9am service and 192 at the second on the first Sunday.

Working hard to fit my writing in with the family at the moment. A deadline approaches but I am extending it by a few days. My supervisors are fantastic and have been very supportive and encouraging. Not sure whether I'll finish in December now and just need to take it one day at a time.