We had a lovely time (thanks for coming, guys!) and got to bed far too late.
On Saturday I had some work - someone I knew from Chorley days is launching her business as an event co-ordinator and wanted me to photograph the details of her wedding for her portfolio. I was to be at the venue at 1pm, giving me enough time to photograph the chapel, venue, etc before the bride arrived at 1:45. The ceremony was to start at 2pm.
Despite spending ages trying to find my tripod (which I never did find, but eventually didn't need anyway so it was fine) I left right on time at 12:30, even though the journey is only a 20 minute one. Imagine my dismay when, about a mile from the venue and on a dual carriageway, the car broke down.
It had sputtered to a halt the evening before on the way home from picking Grant up at work. He'd said, "The car has done this once before, remember? It was out of oil. And whoops, I haven't checked the oil since then!" I hadn't either, and that had been before Noah was born! He had managed to get the car started again and round the corner to our house where I checked the oil and found there was absolutely none, so he filled it up. He'd used the car later to drive to the police station to report for duty, and then home again. The car had been a little moody and was a bit hiccuppy with me on the way to the wedding the next day so I wasn't entirely surprised when it cut out completely at the traffic lights.
I phoned Grant to tell him what had happened and then phoned the RAC who promised to get to me as a priority. The car was sitting at an intersection, left hand lane of a dual carriageway, front of queue at the lights. Grant was concerned that it was a dangerous position because the traffic really moves along that road and if another driver wasn't paying attention and only saw the green light they could slam into the back of our stationery car, so he said he'd phone the police to let them know. Meanwhile I was standing on the side of the road feeling like a fool.
The police dispatcher phoned me and I told her the situation - it was then her call whether or not a police car needed to be sent.
RAC arrived after about 20 minutes and while he was fiddling with the car I used my mobile to send a message to Grant that he was there. He phoned the police to tell them there was no need for assistance.
RAC man got the car running - he didn't know what the problem was, he said sometimes the computer just needs to be reset after having a problem like the oil one the night before - and just as he was going back to his van this police car comes screaming around the corner with blue lights flashing and siren wailing. I said, "Oh no, I hope that's not for me!" and he said, "I think it is since he's turning around!" How embarrassing! The guy must have totally got the wrong end of the stick when the dispatcher had decided to call someone out. He was looking at me, shaking his head, like, "Is this it? What a waste of time!" (Grant was mortified when I told him later, he was saying, "I can't believe they made you a Code 1.")
Police dude went off to find some more action, RAC man followed me about a mile up the road to the venue and all was well. I arrived there around 1:30 and had plenty of time to photograph the chapel and a bunch of details before the bride arrived, then I could photograph the cars and more details. I stuck around a while to make sure I had pics of the bouquets of the bride and maid-of-honour after the ceremony and headed home around 3pm.
Noah has been a bit unwell lately with teething: feverish, whingey, wants to sleep a lot, off his food, etc. When I got home he was covered in a slightly raised red rash all over his front and back but his fever had gone. By bedtime the was spreading to his head and groin and it didn't fade when I rolled a glass on it so I phoned NHS Direct. After asking me a bunch of questions the nurse said to get him some baby Nurofen and to just keep an eye on him. We checked him later and he was quite cool and went straight back to sleep after a drink, and today his rash has faded. Still whingey, mind you, but you can't blame him when he's cutting four eye teeth at the same time. Because of the rash Grant will keep him home from church and I'll take Daniel.
On the DIY front, Grant did loads last night while I was babysitting at Rebecca's. He cleared some of the front yard and painted sealant on the drywall in the bathroom (which is about a third done). When I got home we watched an episode of CSI and went to bed. Here are a couple of shots:
