My Cat obviously ate all of the cat smack at breakfast time, as Your Cat is spending most of her time harassing me and licking my hands to get much-needed sustenance. I, of course, am ignoring her: she's fat enough already, and if she was really hungry she could go and catch something. Instead I'm reading other people's allotment/garden blogs and looking forward to next week when gardening starts again. Woo hoo!

The end of term has finally arrived, and it's been very pleasant spending the weekend doing normal things pretending to be people with normal jobs. I've spent much of today being feckful - I've even tidied up the sitting room!

We're facing a dilemma at the moment, and it's occupying quite a lot of time trying to think through the issues. If you're able to shed advice or opinions, it would be good to hear other views. We are due to move out of the Boarding House flat this summer. The Head thinks that he will be able to offer us another school flat in the village, although I reckon that it probably won't be as nice as the one we have now. Let's call this Property A and, although we'll have to pay rent, it will be well below the market rate. The problem with this property is that it won't be very big, and we would certainly need to move on if/when we have children. I don't think that it will have a particularly large kitchen and I'm not sure if it has a garden/outdoor area either.

On the other hand, I've found a potential house for sale - three double bedrooms, good-sized garden, big kitchen, let's call it Property B - on the outskirts of Burton. It's within our budget (just) but there's plenty of room there for chickens, children... The only problem is the area, where most of the houses are ex-council houses and the ACORN profile suggests that most people are on lower incomes. The area is not particulary pretty or desirable, and the local secondary school is not good either. However, it's a LOT of house for the money, and the vendors are prepared to include things like a gas range cooker, a washing machine, curtains and furniture with the price. Apart from the location it ticks all of the boxes.

We're completely torn. Is it better to have a nice house that would be suitable for many years to come, even if it is in a less desirable area? Or should we choose the school flat with the intention of moving on to our own place within a year or two? There have been very few other properties that have come up locally that tick all the boxes, so do we take the risk that there may be nothing as good as Property B in a year or two's time? HELP!

Report writing is ick.

I made a girl cry today, not once, not twice, but four times. In the space of twenty minutes. All I was doing was pouring water. Or eating cranberry jelly with my cehesecake. Or pretending to be innocent. How was I to know that she would blart her eyes out. Still, at least she found me funny, I suppose.

In other news: the report-writing database (ironically named PASS) has failed. Things aren't good, but will be better soon.