August 31st

10pm: Well with Nicky still away, once the kids are in bed I get the whole evening to myself - this means lots of guitar practise. I have been putting in some hours on the lap steel - which is hard work but fun.

August 30th

8.20am: Big day today, Tabby's first day at full time school. Here she is with some of her friends as the excitement builds waiting for the yellow school bus to arrive. Cameras & video cams everywhere as the next batch of kids was dispatched off for all the joys that school brings. Only seems like yesterday that she was learing to crawl, toddle & all the rest..........

August 29th

7pm: Well this is the sum total of ripe tomatilloes so far - a testament to our crappy, cold summer! Not sure what to do with it, there are plenty of others on the bushes, but they aren't anywhere near as ripe or ready to pick as this little beauty - here's hoping for an Indian summer.

August 28th

4pm: Calgary Farmers Market - the last stop on a day out in Calgary which took in Good Earth at Aspen Landing for breakfast, Fatburger for lunch & a few stops in between. Kids enjoyed themselves & came back with a few treats - Tabby received her first little CD player. A nice family day out, even if mummy wasn't there.

August 27th

4pm: Tabby on the final day of her art camp - looks like she enjoyed herself creating pictures & the like. We had a little show with the kids at the end - very sweet. Charlie refused daycare & was rewarded with a day in front of TV.

August 26th

6pm: Huge drama this afternoon, as we sat down for supper a monumental gust of wind blew through the neighbourhood - uprooting this big old Spruce tree in front of Tabby's eyes. Extremely lucky that it fell away from us, shudder to think what would have happened if it had fallen on us. Further down the road, trees had fallen onto houses causing damage & the local fire department spent the rest of the evening on our street chopping & sawing down dangerous trees. Tabby was distraught, as this was her favourite tree. Wendy next door was really helpful in trying to clam her down - Charlie was still shell shocked from his traumatic first day in Daycare - Nicky missed all the fun!!

August 25th

11pm: Nicky has headed back across the Atlantic for her dad's 70th birthday. I am going to attempt to work around the kids - Tabby is at an art camp, Charlie is heading for the first time to daycare - not sure he is going to like it. We will find out tomorrow, as you can see Nicky is somewhere between Canada & Greenland as we speak...