Wear a hat!

It’s very wet today. Luckily with the judicious use of a large waterproof jacket and my Wasps hat the damage was kept to a minimum, but other colleagues are drifting into the office squelching, sodden and wind swept. My chief executive greeted me, what news from the north Nanuk! As I said on facebook today; there’s no wrong weather just the wrong gear!

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Cold, but fun. We arrived at Leeds Castle and decided that we would visit the festive fayre first. I managed to spend money, without getting one single Christmas present which wasn’t the point at all. (Although I did get some heavenly bramble liquor that keeps out the chill, a picture that needs framing and two chicken tiles. Don’t ask…) Then we tried all the free food samples; brownies, cheese, crackers, biscuits, pheasant and venison pie etc., etc. After which we headed to the castle which was really interesting – I liked the medieval stuff, my companions liked the more contemporary history of the castle – and then for tea, the dog collar museum and the maze where C found the middle (a raised cairn) almost immediately and stubbornly refused to give us any hints as to how we could get there also. He gave in eventually and we raced to the centre where we waved at those still wandering aimlessly in the maze getting more and more cold. After the maze, we visited the grotto which I particularly liked and then we said hello to a barn owl and caught the land train back to the fayre, before heading to the gift shop and then the car. Just as it began to hail! We had a voucher for 20% off the entrance ticket which is £14 each (I think I found it on the Visit Britain) which for two adults was not to be sniffed at: £22.40 instead of £28. But seeing as the tickets last a year and you can come back as often as you like, and there is SO much to do there, it was good value even without the voucher. Not impressed with the tea facilities though – bring a flask!

We were though, quite glad to get home. Sitting on the sofa drinking hot chocolate while the rain lashed down outside was lovely!

Well the inspectors are in. It all feels very normal, in fact I haven’t even seen them yet. I am dressed considerably smarter than I normally am though, which is a bit depressing because I’ve got to keep it up for the full two weeks! I’ve only got two smart pairs of ‘office’ trousers…

Well things to do and all that. Apparently we’ve got to act normal while the inspectors are here, which prompted the question, I thought you wanted us to behave how we always do?!