Activities Expanding to Fill the Time Available

Nicole has been on nights for the last two days (if that's not too confusing) and I don't know whether it's a result of that or a result of nocturnal discipline, but there's been no trouble from the dogs (Tiny) in the middle of the night and I have been sleeping like a log.

We did wake up a little early this morning, if you call eight o'clock early, and managed to get out for a dog walk shortly after Nicole went to bed at around half past eight.

We walked down to the brook and quite a long way down it. We stopped at a little footbridge and Eloise had the genius idea of throwing her water bottle into the stream. Marvelous. I would have got her to get it but I think maybe she's not quite up to mountainerring yet. So Muggins had to climb down and retrieve it, because the dogs certainly weren't about to.

We walked back then, Eloise insisting on pushing the pram. No amount of cajoling or persuasion would deflect her from the idea that this was the purpose of her little existence for at least ten second stretches. Then she would get distracted, take out the dog leads, inspect a blade of grass or something, and when I went to move the pram onwards, there would be a "Nooo!" and she would run up, push me away and push the pram for another few seconds.

Heventuallee, we got back to Thistle Street bridge where Eloise demanded "SHOES" which were duly removed for paddling. There were lots of little fishes zipping around which Eloise attempted at least to point at, if not actually to catch.

Then back up the brook and a little playground, swinging on two seperate swings before deciding that enough was enough and time was pressing if a nap was to be had before swimming.

All in all that was around two and a half hours worth of fun. An excellent example of Parkinson's Law.

As it happened the nap had to be cut short because time for it ran out.