Oh well, the insurance man came round and agreed he would pay for a new carpet for the spare room so at least I don't have to live with a pink puddle forever.

Daughter arrived back from France having had the time of her life.

We managed two nights out while she was away and then brought everyone back home and sat in the garden drinking wine until 2am.

It's probably as well we have a child, at least her presence usually curbs our excesses. It took me two days to recover.

The sad story about the little girl from London happened only a few miles away from where our daughter had been staying and it brought home to us just how precarious life is.

There will be a full investigation into Bunmi Shagaya's death. The result will probably be that it was a tragic accident but this is unlikely to give much comfort to her mother.

I have great sympathy with her teachers who probably felt they were looking after the children very carefully. It just goes to show how easy it all is for such tragedies to happen.

On a lighter note, it is lovely to have our daughter back home again.

She managed to spend her £50 spending money on an assortment of things in a typical 12-year-old manner.

I got some goat's cheese from the farm she visited.

She insisted it had been kept in the fridge although the smell suggested it had spent at least three days in her bag.

I was also given a fish mobile for the bathroom.

Her dad was given a pendant with a lizard inscribed on one side and a dolphin on the other and some French saucisson.

The dog got a French dog's rubber ball. French dogs must have sharper teeth than their English counterparts as Sam has been unable to make a mark in this one although he usually destroys all toys within two days.

She also bought an assortment of hair ornaments, nail varnish and body stickers - the sort of thing you cannot buy down the road in Boots, of course.

All in all she had a great time although she reports being unimpressed with the food.

I think there were too many vegetables for her taste.

She also complained about the sauce which was home made rather than 'proper tomato sauce'.

She has devoured about 20 pizzas since she got back in order to make up for lost time, so I don't think she's suffered too much.