I am in a really good mood today, despite being behind on work, and having a bead room that still looks like a bomb hit it.

The simple reason is that, in my best feat of procrastination yet, I am leaving the country and running off to France for a few days. There's no better way of avoiding a situation than by placing yourself in another country.

I am very fortunate that my parents live in France and just by travelling a few hours (all being driven by someone else, as being a non-driver I am an eternal pasenger being chauffered around the world) I can see them and escape to another country. On days like this when I feel stressed, tired and annoyed at myself, the thought of running away, even if only for two days, is just what I need.

Despite the fact it's pouring with rain, I'm not going on a bus and it's not for a long length of time, I can't get this song out of my head all day long.

It's a big birthday for my mum and whilst she's expecting two of us, she's not expecting all her children, her much-loved grand-child and son-in-laws to turn up. I'm looking forward to the surprise, but not hopeful that one of us won't accidentally say something before the last two arrive tomorrow afternoon.

Of course I get caught up in some work, (writing the monthly newsletter for my roller derby team which takes about 3 hours longer than expected) and we end up leaving the house late and missing our sea-crossing. But, undeterred, we adventurers plough on and before we know it we arrive there very late at night and the first two surprise guests are revealed. Thankfully this only leaves us around 15 hours to mistakenly let it slip about the others, and we're all hoping that if we sleep most of that, it will reduce the chances of a mistake.

When we first arrived my dad was quick to let us know the current situation regarding cats. Not their cats, just cats that live in their garden and continually have kittens and add to the cat population. It seems to be a never-ending battle to try and keep the numbers down with the involvement of many humane methods including vets and cats being released in other villages in the hope they won't find their way back and impregnate the cats still there. My dad being soft-hearted and making sure they're all fed through the cold winters (or any time of year it now seems) makes it unclear which side of the battle he's on.

But late tonight a tiny noise from the hedge gives us a clue that the cat situation has already changed again and the total needs to be re-calculated. It's not until the next morning that we learn for  sure by how much when we discover these four, sleeping, mewing, closed-eyed balls of delight fast asleep in a hole in the wall.

Soon it's on to bed and counting the hours until the time of possible error has passed.

On the way to bed I see these door locks and the added small detail of a heart rounds off a good day. I really like the fact that, completely surplus to requirements, an icon of love has been added to a functional piece of equipment.

Who first decided to do that? Were they an individual blackmsith working alone with love, or the longing for love, in their heart? Was it a designer in a big company who had to explain out loud to their colleagues the small detail they thought needed adding? Did they then have to argue the case for this possibly time-consuming extra, or did everyone immediately see that this would be a nice addition, or cynically think it would increase sales? Were the workers, who had to make the pieces, convinced immediately that more symbols of love should be everywhere, or just annoyed at the extra work?

All the possible combinations of how this occured whirr through my head and I am go off to sleep pleased that, whatever the history and sequence of events, there is still room for decoration and love in surprising places