Puppies, boats and budgets

That's what my weekend was made of...

I spent Saturday at the Southampton Boat Show and Poole Windfest, with Phil and his dad. Hugh (Phil's dad) is something of a windsurfing enthusiast, and thus knows all the relevant jargon to do with boats etc. I discovered at the Windfest that you have to have a certain level of "cool" to get away with being a wind enthusiast...This is a level I certainly do not reach.

The highlight of the Southampton Boat Show was, for me, the tour round a Tall Ship. The Jubilee Sailing Trust take people, both able bodied and disabled on working tours around the world. The whole boat was kitted out so that everyone could use it, including wheelchair lifts up and down all the stairs, and raised arrows on all the handrails pointing to the bows of the ship, for visual impaired people. It was really interesting, and would be an amazing way to spend sometime, if only I didn't get terribly sea sick... The other highlight was my Pirate Goodie Bag, which Phil bought me. This included my very own eyepatch, pirate's hat and a 24" inflatable dolphin: what no pirate should be without!

On Sunday we had to say goodbye to Emily, one of the two puppies born in my living room in July. It was really sad to say goodbye to her, as she's been causing chaos in my house for about 11 weeks now. She's gone off to live with Bev (the breeder), and is sure to be utterly spoilt by Bev's son, Ethan. I'm sure she'll be very happy there, but I do miss having my feet nibbled in the morning...!

Also on Sunday it was time to get to grips with my finances. Now, I am rubbish at this, really truly rubbish, but with the deposit for the house (shhh it's not official yet), and my credit card bill due on the same day, it was definitely time to sort it out. Sorted it is, now, but not before I took a long hard look at everything, cried, shouted and then tightened all available belts and purse strings. Shame blogging doesn't bring in any money!

For the rest of the week I have been living the student life again, catching up with the West Wing, ironing and sleeping late. I ironed for 5 hours solid yesterday, and now have clothes again. I even, virtuously, took 4 bags of clothes down to the charity shop, so now I have room for the newly ironed clothes... That's it, no more clothes shopping for me!!

(Blogger won't let me upload photos. Grumble)