scary weather and not being arsed

I have one layout to share:



And I managed to drop a blob of water on it (clearly visible) and I swore copiously. Which made it go away, clearly. Not.

Again we had downpours of rain yesterday and some roads got flooded! Can you Adam and Eve it. I don't live in some little backwater with inadequate drainage - I live in one of the biggest cities in the South West! I watched the hailstones bouncing off of the wall outside and remembered the film The Day After Tomorrow where suddenly everyone was plunged into floods, giant hailstones and the dawn of a new ice age.....

I told Oliver I would take him into town today to get a few things, and then McDonalds for lunch and he (rather disinterestedly) remarked that he might come if he wasn't 'doing anything else.' I was rather taken aback and found myself saying 'oh - OK' in a bit of a feeble voice. Remember, this boy is just 7 and home-taught - I know where he is and what he is doing every second of every day. It was the dismissiveness which took me somewhat by surprise.

Today my friend rang and asked if we wanted to meet her and her little girl in the park for a splash around in the municipal paddling pools. I am so rude that I greeted her offer with as much enthusiasm as if she had rung to offer an afternoon of pulling our own teeth out. Good job she knows me pretty well. I managed to drag myself there in the end and it was good. I like friends who just accept my blatant rudeness as if it's the norm. It saves me the tiresome effort of having to deal with other people's hurt and disappointment. Got enough of a job dealing with my own, thank you very much.

We went to Longleat last week for Oliver's birthday, which was rather lovely. The 'Lions of Longleat' were exceptionally dull though- they were just lolling around in the sun and waiting for the delivery of their next carcass - lazy buggers. After the extortionate entrance fee (well I think anything over £2.50 is extortionate quite frankly) I expected a few roars and dripping fangs at least. And another thing - we bought food there and it never ceases to amaze me how food in this country at these sort of attractions is so highly priced and so shockingly crap. We bought the 'kids lunchbox' which was OK up until the 'lemon flavoured raisins'. Now what the frig is that all about? Why flavour perfectly decent raisins with lemon?? People don't eat lemons. They stick them in drinks or recipes - why make a kid's snack taste of lemon?? I had a ham salad roll made from something masquerading as a bread which was curiously spongey in texture... Cue more incredulous complaining about British food. If I was younger I might have made a(nother) scene, but now I am 40 I feel too old to make the effort. I think I am genuinely worn down with so many years of vitriolic spite......