Hanging out with the holidayers

John's mum and her friend J. are here staying for the next few days. We picked them up yesterday. We've had a busy day today as we went into the city centre shopping. Ballantynes has the most beautiful things, although I still think I like vintage china more than the modern day versions. I didn't buy anything. Then we had to hurry home and the EQC assessors came to check out out earthquake damage. It took ages, and we thought we would go out for lunch afterwards, and by the time they had finished we were utterly ravenous. It turns out that we have under $10,000 worth of damage, so we can expect a cheque in the mail. Could be $20 for all we know. They measured all of the cracks around the windows, and looked at various little things, recording everything thoroughly. They were absolutely lovely, which was quite different than some people's experiences. After that we went to Riccarton for a little prowl, and to get a birthday cake for Johnny. It was ghastly there, with people milling around everywhere. We did pop into the Laura Ashley sale. We were rather incredulous at the price of one embroidered pillowcase - $99. It was pretty with a machine embroidered hydrangea, but really, who needs to spend $99 to have something to look and and drool on in the night. We've got B. coming around for tea tonight. I'm exhausted already.

Ps. Miss Dog is being such an angel. What a change from the crazy hound we had a couple of years ago!