Thursday 28th December

Went to a nature reserve just up the road from Hop's sister's house to look at some red squirrels. Lucy refused to walk and I ended up having to carry her round, because every time I tried to put her down she howled, which was not conducive to others getting a good look at or feeding any rather timid red squirrels. Towards the end she changed her mind, and about the last 5 minutes before we got back into the car she was quite happily trotting along.
I had to smile to myself with all the loud and clumsy little girls trampling through the undergrowth when Amy piped up and said 'how come they only stay behind the fences and don't come out when you fed them?'
After we went to one of those pubs which have a kids 'whacky warehouse' tacked on the side and Lucy disgraced herself when the phantom piddler came calling. Unfortunately it was the second time in the day, the first being at Hop's sisters, as she couldn't find the toilet, and I'd run out of clean clothes. I had a nappy (rather like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted) and Gillian had a spare skirt of Sammy's, so she ended up looking abit like orphan Annie. Stayed at Gillians and had a couple of glasses of vino, before falling soundly asleep and curling up with Mook.