Well that was the plan anyway

It sounds to me from different people's comments that I've got off very lightly with this labyrinthitis - nothing like as bad as your descriptions - thank goodness. It is still lurking around but I don't have to take quite as high a dose of the balance tablets so am not perpetually trying to doze off at every opportunity now. Not clear of it yet but working on it :o)

Well the plans for the weekend were made in good faith and as is the case with all such things they ended up being adapted on the hoof!

MIL rang Saturday morning while DH and DS were at football to put us off as she had a stinking cold and couldn't face visitors, plus didn't want to pass it on to us either.

Hence we ended up travelling the 80 miles to our old home town for the match on the Sunday morning and returning immediately afterwards. It was very strange to drive past our old house and see the changes the new owners have made. I'm glad to say I didn't feel at all homesick for anything about the town but it was odd to see changes that have occurred like a brand new Tesco on previous wasteland

We had also planned to call on a good friend while in the area but he phoned as we were leaving on Sunday morning and cried off with a similar maladie to Nigel's mum - obviously lots of it going around!

So just the match it was ...................

And what a hellish hard match it was too. We knew that the opposition were no pushover and the final score of 39 - Nil against us was really no surprise but to our girls credit the score really didn't reflect the true picture of the game. Our girls played harder, better and with more conviction than I've ever seen them before and the score, if it were to be a true reflection of both teams performance, should have been much closer.

It was not a game without casualties - Sarah sprained her ankle (fortunately only mildly) plus there was a suspected broken collarbone and a pretty substantial case of concussion on our side. The opposition lost one player with an ankle broken in two places and dislocated which meant an ambulance on the pitch and game abandoned part way through the second half. Jolly rough sport - Rugby - even if they are girls.

The ankle sprain has meant Sarah has spent Monday and Tuesday this week at home with her leg elevated and iced to try and ensure that she's fit for Sunday's County training and more importantly the Talent Identification Day next Wednesday where they select the top 30 girls from around the country at a total of 4 locations to put them forward on a fast-track accelerated training programme to really encourage and develop the cream of the game for future England squads.

As she will probably be the youngest participating there is little chance she would be selected this time but it entails a full day of expert coaching which is a real priviledge to be in receipt of and keeps her name in the frame and profile high for the future.

She has had more than a little confrontation with Dad tonight as she wanted to go down to club training as usual but just stand around in the cold and damp watching the others - he felt, understandably, that this wouldn't help her ankle at all and refused to take her down except for the last half hour so of course he's now the owner of the dubious honour of being 'THE worst parent in the world!' ........... well it makes a change from me I suppose although she doesn't usually throw that one at me very often :o) Don't you just love teenagers - why does nobody tell you about all this at ante-natal classes? But I suppose if they did we'd never believe them :o)

I've spent today on a training course - 'Introduction for Clerk to Governors' which is the other half of my role in my job. Pretty heavy stuff but thankfully delivered in a light-hearted and interesting format although I did come back pretty brain-boiled. So nothing new there then!

I could have really done without being out of the office as I only have tomorrow and then am off for two weeks and a day for half term with three inset (teacher training days) wrapped round it - Hurray!!!

The two younger ones have a tag rugby tournament after school tomorrow teatime - both representing their school with Nick as team captain - they're both fast and nippy runners who are good at swerving to avoid their tags being removed - makes for entertaining watching and I get just as excited watching them as I do watching their big sister participating in the rough stuff

Who knows maybe they'll follow her into full contact rugby eventually - we'll see.

Later on tomorrow evening we have a presentation do at Sarah's school where she will be presented with no less than five awards - house prize, science, PE, french and food technology. As far as we can gather no other pupil has been awarded that many so we're very proud of her even if we are the worst parents in the world - strikes me we can't be doing too bad a job if this is the end result!

The picture is an old wallhanging I made for our bedroom when I was playing once with a buggy barn pattern for hearts. The colours match my Flightless Beauty but it's never got as far as the wall yet - maybe I'll put it up when we decorate the room eventually

I've been merrily stitching away on my group ostrich - you may recall I said the next round would be circles or any part of. I've done a row of jockey's cap blocks in similar materials and I've got so carried away I've done the following month (3) of 'Nine Patch or Squares' and am working on month 4 which is 'Bias Tubing in a format of your choice' - I'm using it as stems for a long row of hand appliqued flowers. I'm really enjoying working in the muddy colours which would never be part of my usual palette. It's good to stray outside your comfort zone every now and then. I've no idea what I'll do with the finished quilt eventually but I'm loving working on it.

Once I've sussed the blessed camera and downloading it on this machine I'll post some progress photos for you

Sarah's coach still hasn't had her baby (now three days late) so I plan to sandwich and finish her baby quilt on Saturday - I have got as far as getting the wadding out of the loft so we're making progress albeit slow!

Roll on tomorrow tea time and no school for over two weeks - YES!