Ahhhh.....Monday. I mean, Thursday.

The kids have returned to school, and I am sitting down with a cup of coffee to enjoy the stillness.

Yesterday was a good day. Let us not speak of the Great CarSick Lily Incident, which necessitated a stop at an uberTesco to reclothe her. I learned my lesson, and will start keeping spare clothes in the boot again. It was great to ride out with Chrissie as navigator, and chat along the M1 and various other roads. The Hobbycraft store in Stevenage was immense, and I brought home hundreds of popsicle sticks, foam stickers, paint, a mummy kit, and a few other fun bits. You name it, they had it in the kids' craft section. Yarn? Not so much. No sock yarn. No laceweight. Lots of bulky or worsted weight in interesting blends and textures, for that funky hat or whatever. Just not yarn that really spoke to me.

That's quite all right - I consoled myself with a trip through the laceweight "aisles" at the on-line shop, Sunny and Shear. I got some SeaCoast Merino Lace, and the Spinner's Lace shawl and Leaf Lace Shawl patterns on this page. Might I just add that the customer service from this store ROCKS!? I had an issue getting my address to enter correctly, and Kris figured it out, phoned me, and fixed it supah-fast. Fabulous.

I had more good customer service yesterday, when I emailed SchoolLink about a defective binding in a book we got for David for this birthday. Really quick response, new copy dropped in first class mail, and new copy WAITING on DOORSTEP when I got home from the school run this morning. Kudos there to the wonderful Royal Mail first class service, as well.

SchoolLink is a terrific company, something like Scholastic in the states, but with books for adults in their flyers as well. They are part of The Book People, I believe. New books are much, much less expensive through them than through the brick and mortar stores. And 10% of what you pay goes to the school of your choice - that would be Sandringham and West Newton, West Newton, UK, if you place an order, Gentle Readers.

Rosie, a blogger with local ties, tipped me off to a King's Lynn used bookstore that has a children's section as well. As soon as I sort the house into order, I'm taking myself downtown for a good long browse there.

Well, I've finished that cup of coffee. Off to find a sweater to wear, pick up my knitting, and take an hour more of silence, neat. Have a fantastic day in this brand new year.