The best laid plans … again

It was just starting to go well, with everything dropping into place. I had a great list of things to do. We were going out Friday evening. And we were taking the weekend off …

… and then the dog disappeared. For three hours. He’d escaped from the garden and I was certain a car that stopped in the middle of the road with three lads in had taken him.

However, thankfully, he’d only made it as far as the farm on the other side of the road, where two girls had put him in a stable to keep him safe while they went for an appointment. (He was apparently after a female labrador there …) And, thanks to Facebook, we had him home again with us by tea time.

But the entire afternoon had melted away. The poet had abandoned work and come home early to help look for him. And we didn’t have time to go to Birmingham on Friday night.

Here, then, is how Friday went in the end:

• admin hour ✓
• search job boards ✓
• pitch for any jobs ✓ (1)
• write a blog post for Words Worth Writing ✓
• write #2 (draft 2) of Pippa and Davey Forever (in progress) ✗
• more reading for NetGalley (1 of 16) ✗
• more reading for 52 Books in  52 Weeks (1 of 12) ✗
• finish ‘F’ is for … alphabet adventure (in progress) ✓
• continue editing book #1 (of 6) for lovely already client  ✓

I wrote a total of 1,454 words against a daily target of 1,000 words, but those jobs not finished on Friday have carried over to today.

On Saturday morning, the poet went around blocking up all the gaps in the fence around the back garden that the dog may have got through. He may only be a sausage dog, but he’s quite big and we were surprised to see him squeeze through one of the gaps when we asked him to “show us” how he’d got out.

The picture above shows some of those repaired gaps. We’ll be painting that fence to match the one beside the chicken run, which we had to paint before the chicken run was put in place.

When Son #1 asked if he could come and watch the football on Saturday afternoon, we decided to take advantage of an extra pair of hands. Between the two of them, dad and lad swiftly emptied what was left in the van (a dismantled shed and his sit-on tractor/lawnmower) and then reloaded all of the band equipment.

On Sunday morning we decided to do the Birmingham run, and we dropped the van back at the secure lock-up on the way. When we arrived at my parents’ house, we were delighted to see my brother and his family over from Canada.

And that’s where the weekend went. Although we did have chance to unwind yesterday evening.

Here is today’s list:

• daily dog-walk ✗ (I’m removing this one as the poet wants to come with us for an evening stroll along the canal, so this is now an R&R item)
• daily admin hour ✓
• write #2 (draft 2) of Pippa and Davey Forever (in progress)
• write (type) #3 (draft 3) of The Last Chick Fledges (working title)
• write a blog post for Words Worth Writing ✓
• more reading for NetGalley (1 of 16 – now 17)
• more reading for 52 Books in  52 Weeks (1 of 12)
• search job boards, daily ✓
• pitch for jobs as and when ✓ (0)
• continue editing book #1 (of 6) for lovely already client

We’ve been having a very hot and sunny time of it here in the UK. Parts of the country have had a smattering of rain, but it hasn’t reached us here in the “frozen north” yet. Today, though, we have clouds and some blissful reprieve, although I believe the hot spell is still with us for at least another week. Everywhere is looking very parched, and it really is far too hot for me.

How was your weekend?