Jill's Blog

Jill, old enough not to want to give away her age, is mother to four demanding daughters that keep her on her toes when it comes to anything retail and beauty related.

Jill much prefers shopping online to fighting the masses instore and her favourite websites include EveLom.co.uk, OkaDirect.com, TimeToSpa.co.uk, Inverawe.co.uk and FormanAndField.com (the latter two keep the men in the family smiling!).

Taking Things For Granted...

Published on Tuesday 31st July 2007

Well, here I am on the glorious island of Alderney, after a couple of disgustingly wet days, the skies are blue, the sea clear and the beaches beginning to have a few people on them – not many of course – this is Alderney.

The masses have started to arrive – I had one night of peace, well relative peace as I went to a Hollywood Oscars ball which was hysterical; so much so that I did wake up the next morning reaching for the aspirin, rather wishing that there had been someone to administer an ice pack to my head.

My daughter and her friend arrived on the 1.30am flight and didn’t even unpack before going off in search of the summer gang. We might have a bit of a problem this year as we have only one old banger out here and as No. 4 daughter has now passed her test it tends to vanish without trace until she needs to come home for showers before the evening’s entertainments. It is not allowed out after dark - the jeep that is not the daughter - so that I at least can keep an eye on it, if not her.

Today two more arrive and the piles of damp towels on the floor will rise to greater and greater heights until I have a hissy fit that I'm taken for granted and then all meek and mild they'll apologise and the towels will make their way to the machine just before the spares run out.

The problems will really start when daughters 1, 2 and 3 get here plus 2 boyfriends. I am rather hoping that my husband will have finished sailing round Britain by then so that the boat will be in the harbour and we can take refuge on that while the house bursts at the seams and world wars 3, 4, 5 and 6 rage.

I had a brainwave of a visit to John Lewis ordering a new tent for the youngest daughter and her friends to live in while those who are earning a crust can sleep in proper beds but this is where it occurs to me that I'm taking the web for granted - I can’t get a connection.

My wireless picks up a connection next door but it needs a secret code, my old telephone dial up connection with Cable and Wireless seems to have died and I am feeling as if my right arm has been cut off.

Ten years ago the thought of a computer having become an essential part of my life would have been unthinkable and now the reverse is true. It has just occurred to me that I’ll have to find some way of sending this through so I’m just going to pop out on an internet mission but, in the immortal words of Captain Oates... ‘I may be some time'.

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