Now, we all like to see our names in the press, even if it is for bad news (no officer, my wife does have facial hair, and it was her driving the car), but I have to say I didn't realise anyone was noticing.  And to have a type of blogging-frequency named after you is obviously about as good as it gets.  You can tell that I do not get out much.

Anyhow, a fantastic weekend away with Brad and Angelina.  We arrived after lunch, a meal that we ate "on the hoof", or more accurately, "on the tyre", as we were driving to Newbury.  On arrival, I was greeted with a cup of tea and a slice of cherry Madeira cake, so all is well with the world.  We then went out for a walk round Greenham Common, now of course devoid of the women's camp, but full instead of trees and mud and stuff, and all the puddles and ponds frozen over.  We have a very pleasant couple of hours, the girls getting lost, the maggots making dens and working out the best way to kill and cook a cow during their planned night out in their shelter*.

Towards the end of the walk a few snow flakes started to fall, and by the next morning there was around an inch of snow on the ground.  The Maggots spent an hour or so making large snowballs, but the rapidly thawing snow was not the best for such building projects.

The drive home was surprisingly uneventful.  It was clear that the southern reaches of our fine land had not had even an inch of snow, and in fact were largely clear of any of the white stuff.

The rest of the day was spent, by me at least, finishing the grouting on the tiles.  If I say so myself - and as a rule it is best to do so because there is not much forthcoming from anyone else - it looks pretty damn good.  The next stage will be cleaning of smears, a job that even the most pessimistic person would likely underestimate, because after the second wipe, all you are doing is redistributing the smear.  It turns in to a game of smear reduction, with each phase of cleaning reducing the smear by a percentage so minuscule that even the Borrowers would have to take a second look.

Once I have finished distributing the smears I will be on to the final stage of sealing the bits that need sealing.  I have purchased a new set of tools for the job, little rubberised scrapers with various-sized profiles for a clean and professional edge.  Having see the glass guys using the same installing our glass splash-backs, I have come round to the idea that they are not a useless gimmick, but rather a very neat little tool that gives a tippity-top finish.  I shall in due course let you know how it goes, and I can tell that you already cannot wait.

Have a good week.

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* The word "shelter" of course being used in the loosest sense, in the way that you might use a fishing net for an umbrella.