Friday 20 June 2008

Birthdays & Breeze Blocks

It's m-i-l's 80th birthday tomorrow and as she had dinner with friends the other night (a surprise arranged by one of her friends) and is going to Guernsey (where she's from) with R next Saturday to lunch with family and other friends, R and I are bringing her to our house tomorrow afternoon for cake and pink champagne. He asked her what she wanted for her birthday as she already seems to have everything and she said that all she wants is pink champagne.

Naturally, as I can't have her coming to the house without making sure it's clean before her arrival, I decided to vacuum. Now I hate hoovering especially as I have to do it with a 9kg fluffy breeze block attached to the hose. I usually time this ordeal for when R can take Grumpy out for a walk but unfortunately today he was working and I had no choice but to spend 3/4 hour fighting with the dog. Despite his determination to kill the hoover, I did manage to finally get the carpets to a reasonable state in readiness although by the end of it I looked like I'd done the Itex walk. (This is a 48? mile walk that brave souls take part in over here, starting from 3pm tomorrow afternoon and walking through the night).

I've managed to use up a fair amount of red ink today and am now going to get on with my 100 words. Opps, is that the children's pizzas burning? Again!

18 comments:

DAB said...

I also hate hoovering, washing,
ironing, dusting .....but drinking champagne that's what I call life TFX

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

tom foolery - me too, I love a few bubbles now and then.

Yvonne said...

Ah, the MIL cleanathon...I know it well. At least you'll get a glass of pink champagne out of it - I love that stuff. Have a great weekend.

Pacha said...

This made me laugh out loud - the battle between dog and hoover!

Don't worry...I burnt pasta twice in a row once. It's a world record (in stupidity) I believe.

Lane Mathias said...

Ooh pink bubbles! That's the way to celebrate any birthday but definitely an 80th! Congratulations to her and have good weekend Debs.

(Peggy is also partial to a bit of hoover game. She doesn't see it that often though:-)

DJ Kirkby said...

Pink champagne? What a cool Granny! Hoovering? What's that? Far too noisy I suspect... Mind you ironing is quiet and I try to avoid that at all cost too...best go invent some new excuses :)

Anonymous said...

I hate house work!! Ds the cleaner in my house!! (much to his dismay.)
Hope she has a very Happy Birthday! its Zs on Tuesday!

Denise said...

I lurrve pink champagne, despite not being a fan of the regular rose as it's too sweet for me. Must buy a bottle to keep in the fridge for next time I have good news!

My rabbits are particularly fond of the hoover. I thought the noise would disturb them but they seem fascinated. A dog attached to the end sounds like no fun, but at least he's not digging up moles in the garden!

Jenny Beattie said...

Oooh, me too. Love champagne. Gives the Husband heartburn, and I really can't drink a bottle on my own...

Kat W said...

Pink champagne & cake! - Now that's the way to celebrate. Hope m-i-l enjoys all her celebrations.

And I hope that your muscles recover from hoover - Grumpy battle!

Kat :-)

Jill Steeples said...

I hope the birthday celebrations go with a swing. My mum wanted champagne on her 80th too, and why not!

Hoovering, shivers! What a horrible thought.

HelenMWalters said...

I love the sound of pink champagne and cake. Can I come and live with you?

Faye said...

Willie the pit bull doesn't have to worry about killing the sweeper, but he and the lawnmower are mortal enemies. Solutions: hardwood floors inside and droughts outside so the grass doesn't grow.

By the way, how did your benefit run/walk in inappropriate tee shirt go? Did I miss that report?
You're a good DIL to go all out(hoovering) for MIL's birthday. Hope everyone has a good time.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

yvonne - the champagne was delicious and at least the house is now looking far cleaner I suppose.

pacha - the dog is a complete pain with the hoover, and any brush/mop or mower. It means that doing these jobs takes twice as long.

lane - thanks for your good wishes.

I think that if grumpy saw the hoover more often too then maybe he wouldn't be quite so hysterical each time it appeared.


dj kirkby - I loathe ironing too and hoovering. Wish I could afford someone to do it for me.

motherx - Happy Birthday to Z on Tuesday. It's J's on Wednesday and I have a nephew who will be 13 on Tuesday too.

denise - I love it too. I try to have a bottle (though not of the pink variety unfortunately) in the fridge and say it's for good news but end up drinking it after a while for any excuse I can think of.

Your rabbits sound adorable.

jj - we have a neighbour who works for a local champagne supplier and he gave us a 'thing' that you attach to the top of the bottle and it keeps all the fizz in so that you can have a couple of glasses the following day or whatever.

kat - she had a lovely time, thank you and I enjoyed helping with the champagne and cake (which was delicious too).

maddie moon - I agree, what better way than to celebrate such a mile stone.

helenmh - of course you can. Chez Grumpy is a constant whirl of visitors.

faye - the dog hates the mower too. You can probably tell that he isn't a very quiet dog!

In the end I managed to stretch the t-shirt as much as possible and put on a flesh coloured camisole type top underneath and by the time I'd strategically placed my number the whole ensemble wasn't too revealing.

Karen said...

My m-i-l is coming round tomorrow so I'll be wielding the hoover first thing in the morning :o( No Pink Champagne sadly, but maybe when she's 80!

Michelle said...

Pink Champagne sounds fab. I sympathise with hoovering before in laws arrive. I live in a state of chaos that i adjust and manage accordingly, but when in laws are visiting I go into harrassed housewife mode, noticing every little satin and spot. My in laws are great but they are retired and have a cleaning obsession...too much time and no children likely to be the reason. Hope your m-i-l had a lovely day.
Michelle

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

karen - hope the hoovering goes well and you have a lovely day with m-i-l.

mickmouse - m-i-l had a lovely day, thank you. It was fun, no doubt aided by the pink bubbles.

It's strange how a house can seem perfectly find until you have relatives visiting and then you notice every tiny speck of dust.

Carol said...

I did try and post another comment but I'm not sure whether it worked or not.

C x