On terrorism - the news is indeed good that the police have swooped on the potential terrorists in Uxbridge. When I was a youngster we lived in a climate of fear of the IRA. I remember after the Harrods bomb at Christmas I would be at my wits end when my mother swanned off up to Bond Street on the 9:45 to Marylebone.

Now the teenyboppers of today have to worry about being blown to bits in Claire's Accessories by Al Qaeda. I wonder if they were intent on blowing up the new Chimes shopping centre in Uxbridge? I hope not, I rather like UniGlo.

Hi jinks in the house this morning. Rancid milk, so had to wait until the shop opened for fresh supplies. Decided to do everything backwards and to have breakfast when we were scrubbed and dressed only there was no hot water due to a cock up with the boiler. Kettles were boiled.

Finally got porridge whilst digesting scenes of Britney Spears which stuck in my throat. Made a healthy balanced meal for the ladyfriend and I for lunch (does feta cheese go off in the fridge? Mine had a bit of a twang.) Noted that the looney lady next door is abscent, I think she may have been taken back into care.

Got to the bathroom with a steaming kettle only to find the water was warm enough atlast. Hoorah.

Got in the car and we started to sing "You do something to me" (not Weller) finished singing and I said "You should always start the day with Cole Porter" but the ladyfriend replied "Yes and not cold water!" We laughed! We shall dine out on that one for months to come.

To the country this weekend to stay with the Ladyfriend's brother and family. Had a lovely time. Went to Marlborough, Wilts and had a nice window shop - stopping to buy occasionally. There were such lovely things in the ancient market town and thankfully the weather was kind. I like Wiltshire, it's country casual yet gentrified if you know what I mean.

Woke this morning to gentle bird song and the odd car zooming by, I thought to myself ten years ago it would have been quieter, a hundred years ago quieter still and then five hundred years ago you'd be hard pressed to hear a milk maid, infact my bed would have probably been a wooded glade.

You know, I am sitting here at work at too early an hour, I am losing badly at online scrabble, I am unable to conjure any enthusiasm to work, everything is going on around me and I feel like I am having an out of body experience. I have my headphones on and I am listening to an Eddi Reader cd, I have just replied to an email sent to me from this bloke and I can think of a 1,000,000 and 1 things I'd rather be doing than uploading the Ealing Times website. Still life goes on and, like the tide coming in, the day is on the turn and before I know it I will be knee deep and will have rather too much on my plate. I will start that tense tightening of my chest, forget to breathe and work too hard.

Had a smashing time last night. Went to Pizza Express with my gentleman friend. The ladyfriend went out herself to dine with an old friend. Freaky thing was, unbeknownst to us we were only a few doors away from each other as she was in the Saracens Head!

Hearty thanks to Mr C and Mr D, we are now the proud owners of a Robinson Crusoe casserole pan.

Listening to the Scissor Sisters cd which I have loaned from Michelle in my office, hopefully she will be too busy today to demand it back from me, I shall stay out of her way and point my gaze toward the window on her approach. It is a good cd.

Tonight I am dining with a gentleman friend in Beaconsfield, a place where tills ring the loudest in the evening as the whole town has been converted into restaurant world. It is almost like a theme town. It is most unsettling to think that once there were ordinary shops and the hum of a community now it has been replaced with multinational food emporiums and the hum of an extractor fan.

I woke up this morning, sat bolt upright and said "this is going to be a lovely day, a most brilliant of days and I am grateful for it" I said this because the ladyfriend and I are wishing the weeks away until Easter and a break from work. I intend therefore to try and make the best of all days and every day and value life a tad more.

I do have a lot to look forward to, tis true. My Eddi Reader tickets arrived this morning, there is the Elaine Paige Experience in June, the thought of two weeks on Eastbourne beach and a 25% off evening at Cargo on Thursday - a whirlwind indeed.

I shall try to wring out 100% enjoyment from every 60 minutes or atleast try and clockwatch a little less.

Last night we were walking along Eastbourne seafront going by one of the big hotels by the pier. I don't know if you are familiar, but one of them has a glass window where all the old people sit drinking, eating and watching the world - and their lives - go by. I spotted this bloke with the worst syrup I have ever seen, it looked like a badly flattened hamster. I couldn't keep my eyes off it and as a consequence, didn't see the lamp post that I walked into. Oh it could have been nasty, thankfully my generously proportioned bust got the full brunt and saved me from breaking my nose! He who laughs last as they say.

By the way Super Stepdad, I was plugged into my modem.

The ulcer in my mouth is, touch wood, on the retreat, I have hit it hard with a number of preperations and three nights of good sleep. I feel slightly better and will spend this weekend by the sea and take the air. The ladyfriend will wheel me out in my bath chair and leave me unattended by the bandstand whilst she takes off round the shops.

It's Mother's Day this weekend and I will be spending Sunday with my Wonderful Mother. I am very lucky I have a WM, the lady who lives next door is a right rotter - I heard screams through the thin walls this morning.......

I'm undergoing a little 'refurb' here at life for lola in an attempt to keep things interesting and detract from the crap that I have been writing lately - oh where is my muse?

Talking of being artistic, the ladyfriend and I have just finished watching the BBC's 'The Divine Michelangelo' which we had videod. It was exceptional, also, that Gunpowder and plot thing on sunday was brilliant. It seems, like the council, there is a mad rush to spend our money on stuff before the end of the financial year. In the case of the council we get roadworks with the BBC we get something worth watching. Better I suppose a few hours of good tv then many mediocre.

The ladyfriend had a point this morning, on our way to work she said "I wonder if Osteopaths look at people as they drive along and think 'sit up straight woman' or 'raise your head man' I wonder if they ever switch off?" she said.

I am pleased as punch, my diet guru Jane Clarke has her own website! Atlast. She's a canny nutritionist though as she is charging for all the best stuff. Still, it is a lovely website and I will not hear a word against her, afterall, she got me flowing again. www.bodyfoods.com

I've a bugger of a mouth ulcer this week, I know what did it, last week I abused my body with too much wine, little sleep and hard work. The kitchen in Eastbourne looks brilliant because of it but I feel spectacularly rough. I am rather run down and am in need of rest and recouperation.

Off on holiday tomorrow, back down to Eastbourne, I am therefore buoyed with enthusiasm for life. Love IS all around, it's a far cry from yesterday when I was a little bit fractious.

On the motorway on Sunday I saw a small family car with a girl in the back sucking her thumb with her head pressed up against the window, her hair was lank and the pallour of her face was grey, her eyes lacked sparkle and I think I saw dribble. She was about 28. She was obviously a 'funny' kid locked in time with a mental age of 6 and destined to wear tracksuits and to be dosed up to the eyeballs on medication. Trapped with the mind of a child but the body of a woman.

She was oblivious to being overdrawn, to getting up for work, to bank loans, to buying car tax, to making pesto, to drinking red wine, the complexities of love, the joy of current affairs and the anger at GM crops.

Has she been dealt a bad card from the deck of life or is she flush with contentment? She's probably more enlightened than the biggest buddha going.

The ladyfriend and I are so happy, Super Step Dad has fitted our kitchen in Eastbourne and it is fabulous. He was incredible and, in one weekend, removed eight months of stress from my shoulders. I now feel as happy as the day I picked up the keys from the estate agent and can not wait to start painting it.- We set sail for Eastbourne on Wednesday morning, smock and beret in hand.

I was in the bath this morning and I had one of those moments of realisation. I was flapping my feet about and was looking at the water and the refracting waves (the transmission of wave through dense media) and I was thinking how people like Da Vinci and his like made all those discoveries that benefit all man kind. I then thought, I'm not going to be one of those people who do that or for that matter engineer bridges like Brunel, I'm just going to gently pass through this world trying to leave as little mess as possible. It made me feel quite content and rather happy. Why anyone wants to be famous is beyond me, better a life spent in quiet disbelief than one imbued with self dillusion.

I am cock a hoop, my Super Step Dad is here in Eastbourne fitting our kitchen and he has made the most fantastic job. We are pleased to bits!

The photo is of SSD drilling holes into a door panel. I can't believe how close the kitchen is coming to completion - I can almost smell the champagne!

I am a lucky E bayer, last night I scooped the England v Germany DVD for £3.70! I am so glad as I missed it when it was on the telly. I will always remember the evening however as I was stuck in a riffy pub in Reading with a pikey with illusions of grandeur. It wasn't pleasant. The things I do - or did.

I remember the ladyfriend sending me text messages every time a goal was being scored, I thought she was taking the piss, but realising my present company was, I duly left the pub and drove off into the night with nothing but grim reality for company.

Nearly exploded with delight in Tesco when I saw the new Coast magazine There really is a magazine for everything these days. It is for people who live by the sea and ticks every box for the ladyfriend and I. I do like it but I have my reservations, it does smack a little bit of Living etc. for my liking, the people in it look as though their children are called "India" or "Rafferty". It's aimed at the buffalo mozzarella generation and could do with being a little bit more Country Living, but I shall reserve my judgement. My love of the sea is equalled only by my love of magazines and I should be delighted to have both. Their website looks bleary though, I can say that.

I saw an old man this morning who looked like Mr Nicholls (an old gentleman I knew in my childhood, I wonder what became of Mr Nicholls?

I am sitting in my seat itching like a good 'un. The ladyfriend's choice of new washing softener has proved a bit of a damp squid. We have gone back to our old one but, like unwelcome guests, the discomfort is hanging around. It will be days before we are on top of things. I don't blame the ladyfriend, I understand the need for variety, however, it is a shame that we must suffer for her whims and fancies.

Saw a lady at the bus stop on the way to work this morning with a very strange broach stuck on her coat. It was a big piece of round metal, sort of like the end of an IKEA curtain pole, perhaps it was one. Ladies of a certain age always have to pin something onto their coats for extra flourish. I prefer a fox foot myself.

We were driving passed a church yesterday, just as it was chucking out time, and a majority of the God fearing congregation were wearing glasses. It made me wonder if failing eyesight and Christianity go hand in hand. I know some of the Anglican church are short sighted when it comes to homosexuality etc but I wondered if it goes even deeper than that and is physical aswell as mental.

It could be that coming out of a dark church into the Eastbourne sunlight is too much for the retina to take but that Jonathan Edwards is always squinting and he is a man of great faith. It may be far fetched but it is worth considering nonetheless.