I finished work on Friday – Hooray!  Nobody informed my Blackberry though and it’s been flashing its light of evil pretty much non stop.  I’ve even had to do a few work calls which is not great for the relaxation process.  Hey ho, that’s the joy of technology I guess…

I had visions of Christmas tv and leisurely wrapping of presents from yesterday but, not too surprisingly with me, things haven’t gone quite to plan.

Yesterday Sister 2 and I went to buy her the two goldfish she wants for Christmas.  I thought we’d by a bowl of some description, a couple of fish and pop them in.  It would seem those days are gone.  These days you have to buy a tank, set it up, let the water settle and have it tested before you’re allowed to take any fishies home with you.  The first shop we went to had a young boy serving who 1) was rude and 2) had no sense of humour.  We decided to give that one a miss and went to another shop which happily was significantly cheaper for identical kit.  Sister 2 now has a lovely looking tank with rocks, plants and a distinct lack of fish.  If the water passes the shops test on Friday though, that will be rectified

In a slight panic that Dads present may require the same level of organisation, I decided I should get that today.  I should have known three Giant Thorny Stick Insects would pose a few problems…

We asked for help, a lady was called.  This lady had clearly never discovered Christmas spirit and while providing what we asked for, was clearly not happy about it.  Especially when I pointed out that one of the Stick Insects she’d popped in a pot for us was missing two legs and one antenna.  You would have thought I’d asked for her to cover it in gold and do a naked sun dance rather than just asking if we could swap it for one that was perhaps a little more healthy.  Swap it we did though and went home to make their house up.

what a bucket of earth looks like in a measuring jug…

It turns out that 5pm is not a great time to walk to the field at the end of the road to trim brambles to provide the Stick Insects with dinner.  There are no street light in Bumpkinsville and it was rather dark.  It also seems that if the instructions on a small block of dried earth tell you to put it in a bucket before covering with a litre of water, you should find something at least approaching bucket size.  If you put it in a measuring jug, you have to cut it out.  It also turns out that Norman Cats are quite keen on investigating stick insects….

It’s only a week I have to keep them alive for though.  It can’t be that hard,can it?  My biggest worry is that I think this may become a new obsession.  Every 15 minutes or so I have to check to make sure all three are definitely still in there.  I’m not terribly keen on them and the idea of them escaping makes my teeth itch.  Still, it’s better than watching the Blackberry to see if it’s started more flashing since I read the last e-mail.  I think!  :o)

She’s a big one!