My first non grizzly swimming lesson

Funny that I commented on the old cat's behaviour yesterday. Last night she showed herself to be even more of a mother to him. Whilst I was out getting our Friday night curry, Tom woke up screaming and screaming. Matt tried to calm him down, but nothing would work. Jodie must have heard her "little brother" in distress, as she came hurtling up the stairs, jumped straight into his cot (not bad for an 18-year old cat) and proceeded to give him a love. Within 10 seconds Tom was calm and within 30 seconds he was chuckling. They really do have a bond. Tom went straight back to sleep again without any trouble.

Of course he was awake again at 3am and once again he wouldn't go back to sleep, so I had to feed him. That's the third night in a row I've had to do feed him to get back to sleep. He is quite hungry when he feeds, he takes quite a bit. I'm wondering if he is having another growth spurt and genuinely needs some more food in the night. When he wakes, he is full of beans, very pleased to see me. If I don't feed him, then he stays awake and his chatter gradually turns to crying, oh hum.

This morning was his first lesson with Waterbabies after the summer holidays. He was a different Tom. All the work we put in during July and August has certainly paid off as he was very happy, not even a suggestion of a grizzle from him. He went underwater a few times without a murmur. He has learnt the signals and closes his eyes and mouth when I tell him he is about to be ducked.

Had coffee afterwards with Rose and Martin and then went off to Wellington for lunch and to get some paint for the house - yes Mum, we are finally doing something to the house (mainly in preparation for putting the house on the market). The porch including the gas and electricity meters is now looking good (we were letting the street down so had to do something about it) and Matt is painting the wall alongside the first flight of stairs to cover up the hole we gouged in the wall when we moved in. It's only taken us 5 years...

Mike and Michelle came round to collect Seren's cake. It turned out ok, but I was a little disappointed with myself. The star upper layer turned out to be bigger than the base. Not by much, Matt said not to worry, but it wasn't the perfect cake I was hoping it to be. Oh well, I guess I will know for next time...

This afternoon we spent some time in the garden - it's such a lovely day today. One lot of potatoes were ready to dig up, so Matt got a trowel and started taking out the compost, throwing it over the veggie patch. This was the funniest thing Tom had seen in a long time. Every time he threw some compost on the patch he giggled and giggled, it obviously was very very funny. So a good way to occupy both my boys, and we got a decent(ish) harvest which was a bonus.