Dear Cathy

Thank you for your advice regarding the home. I will try to relax a bit - now I understand how your house always gets in such a mess.

You sound very busy this holiday but the Lattes are not to be outdone:

JULY
21st - Delightful 'street party' in neighbouring garden - I took a trifle.
22nd - Barbecue and swimming at a friend's - I drank a whole bottle of Pimms.
23rd - Idyllic picnic on a nearby hillside in warm sunshine.
24th - Dentist.
25th - To Cardiff by train to see first event of the Olympic Games - womens' football.
26th - Haircuts and a visit to Grandma's.
27th - Friends to us for a barbecue and Olympic opening ceremony.
28th - Raspberry picking at a nearby fruit farm then baking - Raspberry and Almond Cake.
29th - Visit to Park Hall Farm to watch pig racing - our pig came last.

I am interested in your new food processor because Mr Latte is thinking of a Kenwood chef as my eleventh wedding anniversary present (steel apparently). I do like the look of those posh Kitchen Aid ones (like the one Margo has) but I am reliably informed that the whisks on those do NOT reach the bottom of the bowl!

Hurrah for our third follower! Actually, Cathy is our first real follower as we know the other two don't we? I therefore calculate that at this rate we will both be dead before we attract 100 followers. Never mind - onward and upward ladies!

With love, Lucy. x

PS How are you fixed for putting up one adult and two children should we venture up north while Mr Latte demolishes the rest of the house?

PPS Would you believe it? I've just returned home from a hard days work to find that Mr Latte has taken a boot-load of things to the charity shop without checking with me first. Now I'm going to have to have the day off work tomorrow to go to the shop when it opens at 10am to find out what he's given them and/or buy it all back - if any of it is still there. I'm SO angry!!!!!

Summer is here!

Hello, Lucy!
So glad to hear that the job is going well, although I feel that your boss has seriously underestimated your talents - time will tell and the truth will out! Chin up dear. And as for housework, look to my motto - perfection is not all it's cracked up to be - that'll do will have to do; don't beat yourself up. Do the grocery shopping on-line; teach the little Lattes some responsibility by having lists of things that they need for that day on the door. Mummy can't and shouldn't be responsible for everything, should she? I firmly believe that, if you're not looking after yourself, the whole family unit will crumble. Do take care of yourself. I shall be visiting shortly to check up on you!
Life has been lovely up here, lately: I have finally treated myself to a new food-processor after struggling on with only a Sainsbury's Basics whisk for a couple of years; Mr Chino and I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs Brown's Boys, but I couldn't possibly repeat any of the jokes to you - far too 'earthy'! We also went to see Tom Jones in concert a couple of weeks ago - what a great show, although I don't think he topped Barry Manilow, if I'm totally honest; and went camping for the first time in a couple of years. I went on a spa day for the bargain price of £25 and, yesterday, we saw a chimney being demolished, a first for us all; it was very graceful and, somewhat, sad - it only took seconds to destroy something that has dominated the Hartlepool coastline for years. As a result of all this galavanting the ironing has piled up and I've only baked one batch of chocolate muffins, but I don't care! We're having a MARVELOUS summer, the sun has shone and the Chino children are managing to behave so far...
More exciting news! We have a new follower! I believe your Herman The German experience may well have been the bait that drew her in, but, whatever the reason, welcome to Cathy! I hope that this is the beginning of a better friendship than Margo and I share... (She's always so critical of my baking efforts!)
Well, Lucy, dear, that's all for now. I'll be seeing you soon, so make sure you are, indeed, looking after number 1.

Much love, Cathy x

School Summer Show Success!

Dear Cathy

Last week was the school summer show which last year, you may remember, was quite disastrous for me. This year I entered one cake only - the classic Victoria Sponge.

I'd had a very busy week and we had visitors so I couldn't take as much care as I might have liked. Nevertheless, I came away with a very respectable second place! First prize was awarded to one of the school teachers - need I say more?

Thank you so much for asking about my new job, at last. It's been a great success so far. I'm doing lots of writing - publicity, press releases and website content. The graphic designer rather pompously told me that he had done all the hard work designing a template and all I had to do was 'colour it in'. He also cautioned me against including 'huge chunks of copy' that people wouldn't want to read - bastard!

Apart from that it really is very satisfying, and my work thus far has been well received. The down side is that domestically, things have spiralled out of control. The kitchen looks like a bomb site, I haven't done a proper grocery shop for weeks, the washing and ironing is piled up in huge bundles (don't tell me not to bother with ironing - I can't bear crinkles) and I seem to forget something crucial for one of the children every day. I am flying by the seat of my pants. Frankly, I don't know how other girls manage!

Anyway, that's all for now dear. I hope to see you in the summer.

Lucy x