Someone stole my mojo

What a truly crappy day, in many senses.

Good bits first

* James' friend (the other Jamie) came round for the day so they have been playing all day which has been great for James...some company of his own age, who isn't grumpy and tired!

* James and Jamie went out to play and I didn't go with them - this is a bit of a milestone for me because I am PARANOID about letting James play out. ONce we had established ground rules, I walked away...he was only on the field at the back of the house...but really - when we were kids we were playing out all day when we were under 5 years old, I'm sure. James is 9 in April. Got to let him have a bit of freedom - but under VERY STRICT GUIDANCE (the teacher in me just can't stop!)

Bad bits

* about 4 hours sleep last night - insomnia kicked in big time, so it was 4a.m. the last time I looked at the clock. Had to be up at 8.30 ...felt like rubbish all day.

* feeling as bad as I did at 10 in the morning, imagine my glee when Corin answered the door to the Environmental Health chap. He was actually quite pleasant - but basically we have had our wrists slapped for burning wood in our chiminea in the summerhouse. Genuinely, we had no idea that the entire Warrington area, apart from Stretton, is a smoke controlled zone - until after the Env Health guy left and I went and checked on the web. I don't even remember there being anything in the covenant on the house when we bought it - but you just know I am going to have to find it and check!

What frustrates me most is not the wrist slap - we needed to know, although the chiminea has been in the back garden for 2 years now...and blippers will know of Corin's love of burning things. No, its the fact that we are both pretty certain who has made a complaint but NOBODY has come and knocked on our door and said "Do you mind but...." If they had, we'd have stopped, at least until we have done what we have done today which is gone out and bought "Fuel Approved for use in Smokeless/Smoke Controlled areas". The internet is a wonderful thing - there is an approved list of about 60 brands of smokeless fuel which can be used ...its kitemarked and everything. So the complainant who cannot come and ask us himself, can no longer complain as we're not doing anything wrong.

However as a result of that, I have been paranoid all day that we have been sending up smoke signals. Honest to god, we're not nuisance neighbours - we don't have loud parties, get drunk, drop litter, abuse our neighbours or anything else that might be considered offensive. Our immediate neighbours have said that its ridiculous (they have a chiminea too!) and after living here for 2 and a half years we know everyone enough that they would come and say. So methinks, its 'new kids on the block' - maybe my Christmas Eve visitor. 2 complaints about us in the space of a week ...

I feel guilty and very naughty and am waiting for the next thing which will probably be a noise pollution warning for starting the car of a morning, or firing the motorbikes up in the summer.

Maybe we'll get an ASBO?

Oh yeah - that would just be bloody brilliant!