Visiting

They've gone. Such a short visit, but so productive! The Lovely Son did some jobs around the house, his girlfriend worked on her dissertation, and I cooked. And we spent a lot of time eating and chatting; they also fitted in walks, a visit to the Baltic and a look round a cold wet Newcastle, and a morning at the seaside with a deliriously-happy labrador.

The dead dishwasher, sold with the house, was replaced, plumbed and wired in by the Lovely Son, by the bargain machine bought via the Council's intranet website for the princely sum of £15. It is just humming quietly through its fourth load.

The damaged skirting board in the shower room, so far well-hidden from viewers by a linen cupboard, was fixed beautifully by aforementioned Lovely Saintly Son; no need for replacement.

Door handles, their screws long-lost, were secured throughout the house, the little stained glass panel in the bathroom window was carefully removed (it was a gift from Tricia and is moving house with me), the wildly-swaying ash sapling in the front of the house, that threatened to break windows in breezy weather, was removed (again: it will grow back in time, as it always does).

And duct tape was judiciously applied to the freezer fascia, enthusiastically pulled from its moorings by me during a stop-cock search when the top of the shower-room basin's hot tap came off.

The To Do list shrank noticeably.

The groaning fridge was lightened considerably, and anything surplus to requirements was packed up today to leave with the Lovely Son and girlfriend.

The dogs were kept in a constant state of extreme joy.

And, most delightful of all, I got to know the Lovely Son's girlfriend, C, and to like her very much indeed.

Which was just as well, as she is clearly someone who a) can produce that permanent happy smile on the LS's usually-serious countenance, and b) is important enough to be brought home to meet The Mother.....

"Look at my stupid face!" he exclaimed when he saw this photo.

We did, and my heart was glad. Long may his face remain like that.

No pressure there then, C.

Come back soon, both of you.