I do hope we'll start to see more sunshine soon.

They were also selling honey. Well it was apple day, so there must have been some sort of logic to it. Perhaps people who like apple trees usually keep bees as well. Does that mean we should start keeping bees, I wonder. We do have a small apple tree.

Anyway we bought a jar of honey, but haven't opened it so I can't say what the honey is like. It is Surrey honey, of course.

Yesterday evening I went to hear Victor Stock, the Dean of Guildford Cathedral, tell us about his Desert Island discs. He seemed an outspoken man who freely admitted to doubting a great deal and not considering God to be a Person. I can't say I share his interest in collecting art or pottery nor his concern for beautiful religion. He was amusing at times but I think I could soon tire of his conversation. I'm not sure what role the Christian faith plays for him except perhaps to sooth and comfort him. It was meant to be an event for non-Christians. I don't think any were present, which was probably just as well.

At some point last week, Monday, I think, I planted some onion sets and garlic in a small bed near the house. Hubby still needs to clear what I optimistically call the vegetable patch of piles of branches and hedge cuttings. He says he'll have a bonfire on bonfire night. Then I hope to put in some broad beans and the rest of the garlic. Garlic is meant to deter the blackfly broadbeans are prone to.

Hubby and I have both had colds, which are still lingering. In my case this tends to earache, even though I am taking the tablets.

Yesterday she ate practially nothing and stayed on the doorstep all day instead of trying to come inside everytime the door opened. Today she is lying flat on the floor and hasn't even had he energy to finish the sardine I gave her as a treat to tempt her appetite, although she obviously enjoyed what she did eat.

She was funny on Sunday. Daughter made a sardine sandwich and Holly mewed loudly outside, obviously wanting to come in and share the feast. She trotted briskly to the door of the room where her bowl is and stopped when she realised the smell was getting weaker rather than stronger. So I tipped the little that was left in the tin into her bowl and she skated across the floor and almost fell through the door (the room her things are in is at a slightly lower level than the kitchen so there is a step down) and lapped up the flavour of sardine.

Today she started equally enthusiastically, although she didn't need to move much as I put the bowl next to her head, but her chewing slowed right down and she had to rest inbetween mouthfulls. She mews occasionally. Not sure if she feels lonely or is in pain. She perks up a little if you stroke her. We might have to take her to the vet if she stays like this.

Just now I'm trying to make the house presentable for a visit from a German exchange student. The trouble is I keep so much stuff (of course it isn't junk!! ;) ) in the spare bedroom and now I have to somehow tidy it away.

Took daughter to doctor'sthis morning as she wasn't feeling too great on Friday and had to come home plus has felt giddy a lot lately. Doctor told her she's just too slim and healthy and it's not at all unusual at her age, so she just needs to remember to get up more slowly, eat regular meals and drink plenty, especially when it's warm. This confirms my own suspicions, but I felt I ought to check things out with the doctor, just to be sure.

It led to a useful discussion about nutrition between me and daughter. We talked about school food and I explained that very starchy and sugary foods on their own weren't a good idea because her blood sugar will fall an hour after eating them. Blood sugar seems related to blood pressure. Her diet isn't too bad, really, but I think she is sometimes tempted to eat the sweeter or easier to digest food at school. At least she can make a more informed choice now.

I made cauliflower cheese with the cauliflower, which is actually a cross between cauiflower and broccoli and tastes better than either even thought it's lime green colour is a bit off-putting. Cauliflower cheese is son's favourite, but he went out mid-morning and didn't come home till 11.00am, so didn't have any. He did have some on Sunday when we used it up, though.

I can't remember what we had on Wednesday, but Thursday we had bought pizz 'cause I'd been at work all day and wanted to get to house group. I put a courgette from the veg box on my pizza (I had half Thurs and half for lunch on Friday). I finally got round to sorting the spinach out on Saturday after work. It was in pretty good nick considering it must have been picked a week before. I'd kept it in a bag from Lakeland Ltd that's meant to keep things fresh for longer. I washed the spinach, only needing to throw a few leaves away, braiseded it and then, with the heat off, stirred in an egg, some feta cheese and a bit of cheddar. Instead of throwing the mixture in a dish and covering it with scrunched up filo pastry I made 6 individual parcels and thought it tasted nicer that way.

Used carrots and another courgette yesterday and so now have two portions of carrots, 2 courgettes, 2 onions and a few potatoes to go.

We also get fruit delivered with the veg and the bananas haven't been eaten. The strawberries didn't last too long, mind. There are also 2 Williams pears and 3 oranges left. Will we do it? Can we eat it all up before it goes off? It's a challenge every time and for this reason I've decided to have fortnightly box rather than weekly. We just don't get through that quantity of fruit and veg in a week.

Wednesday I had to go to Dorking for a training course. I can now deal with Difficult Customers, so be warned! There is a nice sandwich shop in Dorking at the very far end of the main shopping street and a bit beyond most of the shops. It might be called Doorstep Sandwiches. They make them for you while you wait and wrap them in paper, not plastic. A paper napkin and an after dinner mint were also supplied.

Yesterday was a work day. It occured to me that there are difficult customers who are difficult in a straightforward sort of way and they are usually fairly straightforward to deal with: you can calmly and politely stand your ground or quiver like jelly and give in. ;)

However, there are some people it is hard to know how to handle. Some libraries are frequented by very smelly people and they aren't really doing anything wrong, but they make the whole region they are in, and possibly the whole library, very unpleasant to be in unless you have a blocked nose. And some people just behave oddly and make you feel uncomfortable and if they approach a young person and start chatting to them it is rather worrying, but they haven't really done anything wrong, either. The course didn't really help us know how to handle these people.

Today I did a lot of clearing up and a lot of that was washing up and wiping up because teenagers seem to use a lot of crockery but they don't have much interest in making that crockery clean and ready for next time they need it. I did have to make myself sound very cross at one point to get son to do some cleaning and clearing up that really was his responsibility - and I didn't have to act much.

Hubby and I managed to chat tonight. He's on a bit of a tour of conferences at the moment and has moved on from Nottingham to Aachen. Last night he tried to phone me while I was at housegroup. Both his talks seem to have gone well.

I've been feeling a bit tired and groggy lately so I'm planning on an early night ready for an early start tomorrow when I shall be working again.

Just as well I didn't have to be anywhere today. In fact I'm not sure I've woken up properly all day.

Otherwise I'm trying to think about how we can bless the poor by the way we live. There's a bit of a discussion going on about it in the Generous Cafe , if you're interested.

The talk was very much aimed at the kids, with the help of a couple of love-bird puppets, but with a clear message to parents asking if we put chains on our kids by transferring our expectations and unfufilled hopes onto them.

The prayers were also done in a way to appeal to the kids as the vicar's two eldest boys (he has four in all) used bubble making equipment recently purchased at Greenbelt to make bubbles before each 'Amen'.

It was a very uplifting service.