Tom eats unaided

Because of the lemon drizzle flop, I made some plum puffs first thing. I’m very pleased that I can make them quickly and easily without using a recipe. While most family cooks would think this is the normal state of affairs, it’s a big thing for me. The beauty of it is that I can just ‘whip’ them up as an emergency replacement.

Sophie and Tom arrived at about 12 while I was busy making Mirinda’s choice of foamy chicken. As it turned out, this was a very good call due to the fact that it contains no vegetables, something Tom can’t stand. Though, strangely, he is quite happy to have them in the Nutra-bullet.

It’s an odd thing but a lot of kids (these days) have an aversion to vegetables. It can’t be natural otherwise the children of vegetarians would starve. I find it quite weird. But then I don’t have any kids so, what do I know?

And speaking of Tom and his eating habits…I am very pleased to report that today he actually ate most of his lunch, unaided by Sophie and her insistent cutlery. He even sat on his own side of the table rather than next to his mum. And, best of all, there was no electronic devices at the table and he joined in the conversation properly rather than making up silly jokes that we were forced to laugh at. I think he’s growing up.

Once he’d finished eating, he did revert a bit by getting up and annoying Sophie by patting her on the head and running his fingers through her hair.

This was during dessert, which he never eats. That’s also strange because I thought kids loved anything sugary.

Lunch finished, Mirinda took Sophie and the puppies up to Frensham, surprising her with the new cafe at the end of the walk. She approved wholeheartedly.

Meanwhile, Tom and I watched Inspector Gadget on Netflix. He had brought a DVD of Pirates and Scientists, which we’d already seen ages ago. While I’d have been happy to watch it again, I felt something new would be better.

Gadget is a live action film based on the cartoons. The producers have given the story a bit of flesh by starting from before the Inspector becomes Gadgetted. Some of it is very funny. I particularly liked Matthew Broderick in the main role and Rupert Everett being delightfully evil as Claw. Also, it was a delightful touch having Don Adams voice Brain, the dog. Don Adams, of course, was Gadget’s voice in the original cartoons.

We still had some time to kill after the movie so we watched a few episodes of Spongebob Squarepants. What a surreal programme. Actually I told Tom it was incredibly surreal and he asked what that meant. I told him Spongebob Squarepants is what surreal means.

Eventually Mirinda, Sophie and two very excited dogs returned from the Ponds and our guests packed up and left, returning the house to normality.

It was a lovely day and Sophie admired the garden and the furniture (which they hadn’t seen). Actually, they were both quite taken by the recliners, having a fine old time reclining on them. Tom wants one with a bar fridge.