Today, there was a day of yard/garden/garage/table-top sales around the village.  One paid £5 to take part and buyers could buy a map of participants for £1 (I can’t see why anyone would though, actually) and this money will go towards the fund to improve the village playground.

Dilly had a stall at the bottom of our drive, using a couple of tables from the church.  She mostly sold outgrown toys for 50p – £1, plus a few larger things such as a tricycle and took over £50.  Amazing.  The money raised has been promised to the children for new toys…

There was also a ‘give and take’, I think they called it, morning in the town, where that literally happened – you could take anything you didn’t want to the hall and take whatever you wanted without charge.  The Sage took a few things, but mercifully didn’t bring anything home with him.

I looked after the children for Dilly, which was a pleasure as usual.  Now that they are not at school for the summer, they are getting on extremely well with each other and are cheerful and well-behaved with us – it’s not that I think that school is such a bad influence, but they get tired and therefore sometimes fractious.  We played some games and went into Yagnub to buy things for Zerlina’s birthday party tomorrow – we’ve already given her her main present (we went halves with her parents for the play house/slide combo) but I wanted something to give her on the day.  We also visited the sweet shop and the bakery and I left them with their father while I walked round to the butcher.  As ever, I had a little moment of gratitude, because a year ago I wouldn’t have chosen to walk that far, though it’s only 500 yards or so.

Tilly was very pleased to have the children here and walked all over their board game and Lego, which they didn’t seem to mind at all.  I’m trying to remember to feed her more often – she can’t eat much at a time any more, and can’t deal with biscuit at all so I’m feeding her food that’s formulated for elderly dogs (lamb, rice and vegetables), which she loves.  However, she’s been losing some weight and her backbone is starting to show.  So I’m gradually upping the amount of food, but cautiously, not wanting to overload her system for obvious reasons.  She’s happy and gently active and enjoys the fuss being made of her.

Zerlina’s birthday isn’t until Wednesday, but the party is tomorrow – just the family.  The children she meets at the childminder’s aren’t that local (she goes to someone near where Weeza works, a few miles from their home) and she doesn’t go to a playgroup or nursery school yet, so doesn’t have particular friends of her own age as yet.  And she’s too little to want a children’s party.  It’ll come, soon enough.