I woke up too late to see the wildlife, most of which had finished its early morning social and got on with the day.

The clandesting garden hosepiping looks like it may have come to an end. We can down for breakfast and were looking up at the cloudy sky when Paul asked where the water running down the drive was coming from. I was pretty sure it was something to do with the hose. I went to the garage to check and found it had punctured over night and was shooting a fine fountain right up to the roofing rafters. I switched off the water, but the pressure in the pipe was so high it took ages for the fountain to die.

We had some lunch and were going to go out for a walk on the common, but by the time we had got ourselves sorted out the clouds were turning grey and we thought it best to try again another time, so went our separate ways and did jobs for the afternoon. I didn’t get as much done as I’d wanted, but then I’m getting used to that.

I booked tickets for Moulin Rouge, which was a trauma in itself. The Odeon web site swallowed my credit card details three times, and each time timed-out when trying to authorise them. In the end I rang the booking phone line, which played me an ad suggesting I try the web site instead for fast, secure booking. The guy on the other end was very helpful, though, and promised to check whether I’d indeed got three bookings already and cancel them if I had. Meanwhile, all the superior seats had sold out - probably because they’re only thirty pence more expensive.

I put some potatoes in a bag, and drove around to Paul’s for dinner, making sure I’d got the cat in before I left and we had dinner, then went straight off for the film. We bumped into Jane, Paul Anley and some guy with them who later declared Ewan McGregor’s vocal range to be too narrow.

There was some kind of projector cock-up, which meant we got all the soundtracks to the ads but no pictures, so it made you feel a bit like a blind man watching TV, and I didn’t think I was going to enjoy the film for the first twenty minutes or so, but then I really got into it, and came out proclaiming it a four out of five. From the moment they first sing the Elton John song right through to the end I was totally hooked.

We came back for Earl Grey and a rummage through the atlas to work out where we want to go on holiday.

1. Goodbye Odeon
   I will never, ever book tickets at an Odeon cinema again. I should have learnt from the Moulin Rouge experience, but foolishly logged on to...
   
   
2. Anniversary Day
   To B&Q first thing to help Paul choose paint, which necessitated an early start - a good thing as it meant I could get the...
   
   
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
   We booked tickets to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Imax last night. I'd not been there since I was sitting through a...