It was somewhat atmospheric first thing at the Fields this morning as Rue and I laid out the cones for event #355, as a thin layer of mist hung in the air. We felt we might be short of volunteers but true to form as the clock clicked closer to 9, we welcomed Lucinda and Kareem for another week of high vizzing - with Rue directing the show once again and leading the warm up with the Hackney Haka, and Nick on barcode scanning we had decent GG representation - 6 other helpful volunteers stepped up, and we were able to get the show on the road for another week.

4 first timers took on the slightly muddy 2 laps today, and our first two finishers sprinted down the home straight to only finish a few seconds apart in an exciting finish. 44 keen runners took to the course, setting 4 pbs and everything seemed to go remarkably smoothly in spite of the slippery conditions underfoot!

...or in this case our hands, but Sam and I both commented when we met outside Ms V's front door on how today's welcome appearance by the sunshine improved our moods enormously. The ever cheery Ms V was also pleased to see us when she opened the front door, and we quickly had her mattress moved from the spare room onto the bed frame as requested. Smiles all round.

Mr T was keen to ensure that after a prolonged absence (Dr's orders and all that), I saw that the beef burgers were back on the list, so I was determined not to let him down! In spite of hunting high and low, only the more expensive version were available at Tesco, so I took the plunge in the hope that there would be sufficient funds for everything else...there was (just...yet again the amount you can buy at Lidl for not very much surprised me).

We then had a very lengthy chat about the state of world snooker, the poor quality of plumbers (and general handymen) these days, and the fact that Mr T had to endure three days without hot water this week (the latter two were connected...). Entertaining and informative as always.

Ms D was determined to go through each item on the list this morning to make sure it was clear (and that I could read her handwriting). She was feeling a bit bored with her usual items, so there were a few new products for me to hunt for (which does keep it interesting), albeit all the old favourites were still very much on the playlist. The sun was out, so it was a pleasant wander up to Waitrose and around the aisles and back again with treasure in both hands.

As we ran through this morning's list at the kitchen table, Mrs S decided that I would also benefit from a short lesson in Afrikaans (who was I to argue - she taught me a word of Icelandic last week...), and so I learned that the equivalent of a tangerine in South Africa is a naartjie...it's always about so much more than just the shopping!

An efficient (if somewhat rain affected) pick up and drop off for Miss S, who was very pleased to see me at her front door with medicine bag in hand at midday today.