End of a long day

This may have been the last of the glorious sunshine (at 3.30pm) but there was plenty of of day to deal with afterwards.

Last night was not the best night's sleep any of us have had. The ferry terminal at Caen was cheery and supplied chips and red wine quickly, we got on the boat quickly too, found our cabin and bedded down for the night, Then began half an hour of announcements about duty free, safety, restaurants and vehicular access. All at intervals perfectly timed to wake you with a jolt when you'd just drifted off.

The crossing was surprisingly rough, but happily the rest of the family snored and snuffled their way through it all, leaving just me to mentally rehearse our route to the lifeboats. (Yes, I'm that kind of rubbish traveller.)

Anyway, this morning dawned bright and early with music being blasted out of a speaker in our cabin (5.30 am). Despite my hitting everything in sight (I had only just got to sleep and was a bit grumpy) it only went off after 5 minutes. To be closely followed by announcements repeating last night's, but from a shouts bloke rather than a sultry French lady.

The drive north, with brief halt for a Little Chef breakfast most noteworthy for its dramatic over-ordering, was a blur (particularly the bits where I was asleep). Some dodgy weather, but I got to drive the final stretch in glorious sunshine through Lancashire and Cumbria and finally to my parents' house for a warm up (no heating in the car and frequently opened windows to clear misty windows) bacon rolls and to collect clothes ordered and delivered to their house.

Then on into Scotland, through the snowbelt, to pick up Mr B's Dad's car to use while our's is in the garage from tomorrow. A comedy of u-turns, 3 point turns and wrong turns finally found us at the right garage, and finally safely back to Fife in a car with heating, to a house so cold that our breath was almost turning to ice and crashing to the floor. All heating has been focused on warming up one room for the kids so, after a store cupboard puttanesca spaghetti from Mr B, we are wrapped up on the sofa catching up on Strictly.

Favourite moment of the day: looking back in the car after dark to see what Katherine was up to, and seeing her reading a book using her iPod Touch as a torch. Perhaps we should get her a Kindle...