We had a good day yesterday. We'd planned to go to the timber shop to buy the first load of wood for the wendy house we want to build, only the shop was closed on the Sunday. I now know what a floor joist is. It's a support which spans the width of the floor beneath the floorboard, to support the floor. And did you know that a 2 by 4 is not actually two inches thick? It's 1.5 inches thick. Two inches is the thickness before it's treated.

Since we missed the boat on the wood, we went to one of the local nurseries instead and bought the first two fruit trees for the mini orchard we want to plant. The wendy house will nestle cosily between the fruit trees. We bought an orange and a lemon.

It is a lot of work digging a hole with three children.

Lauren worked incessantly with her trowel. She did not stop digging.

Robyn talked more than she dug.

Daniel put soil back into the hole. And also, inexplicably, was intent on burying the bag of compost.

Later we went out for supper together. This was Lauren's suggestion, as there's a new Spur in the neighbourhood. Lauren is so nice about asking, and so nice if you say no, that I find it very hard in fact to say no. In hindsight it was not the best time to go. They were swamped with an opening-week crowd. Also, they had decided to 'chance it' and open before the glass was delivered to enclose the verandah. As we arrived we were swept off to a table 'close to the play area', only to find this was on the freezing-cold-in-the-Kloof-weather verandah.

Had a chuckle shortly before going to the restaurant. Robyn was very cross with Lauren for throwing a car (granted, accidentally, but a car none the less) at her.

"You stupid bugger!" she yelled.

We were quite shocked. Asked her sternly where she'd heard the word used. And asked her what she thought it meant.

"It means she bugs me, " she said.

We both burst out laughing, and that was the end of that.