Things got better as the day went on...

I didn't get off to a very good start this morning. With a list of to-dos involving five different places (and I really hate getting in and out of the car five times - I haven't figured out what kind of phobia that is - perhaps 'thiscaristoolowonthegroundphobia'), I set out early on my mission. The first stop was the post office to see if an important document had arrived from London for my son - after a bit of searching, they found it - and then he wanted me to go back home and fetch a file and take it to him at work. I was on my way to the mall anyway, but this was an extra in-and-out-of-the-car. Always being eager to please my offspring, I duly delivered the goods and set off again on my mission.

As I browsed through summer tops at the cut-price clothing store, wondering why there was nothing in between S and XXL, my phone rang. No, it wasn't someone inviting me to lunch under a shady tree. It was my daughter, laughing hysterically because she was locked in the little space between the front door and the security gate, and her key was inside. She was trapped in the blazing sun at my mercy, because she could only get out if I drove all the way back home (10km round trip) to let her out. If it hadn't been for the sun and the fact that she needed to be at work, I would have left her there as a lesson not to be neurotic and lock every gate and door! So I abandoned my search for the right size and did some more in-and-out-of-the-carring. As soon as the monkey was out of the cage, I set off again on my mission.

I crossed the Peninsula and duly queued for the car licence then went further afield and did my hunter-gatherer thing so that the offspring would get dinner, cunningly passing by a delightful coffee shop and detouring for a cappuccino and salad. Things were looking up!

And when I got home, it was as though the city council had read yesterday's blog. The workers were out in full force, armed with weedeaters and wearing full health and safety armour, converting my front garden into a veritable paradise of neatly trimmed lawn and edges, no more thorns. A heartwarming sight indeed. As soon as they had departed, bearing black bags full of my unwanted cuttings, I set out the sprinklers, turned on the wellpoint pump and settled myself on the balcony with a nice cup of tea and a sea view.

A better end than the beginning!