Appearances can be deceptive

Not like me to blip a dog!  Riddley looks very mild here, but actually she is bonkers. Probably a collie Jack Russell cross, she is hyperactive and rushes about barking at the slightest provocation (e.g. someone walking past the house). My sister N has bought an RX100 similar to mine and I was showing her how to use it by taking photos of the dogs; a couple ended up on my camera, providing my blip for the day.

When my mother died almost a year ago, we didn't have a funeral because she had donated her body for research. Instead we had a memorial event which went really well. The reason I'm in Nottingham is because the hospital released her body, so we had a funeral. We kept it very basic: just us four plus two grandchildren, at a natural burial ground just outside Nottingham.

The place is lovely: a large open field with groups of graves dotted around. Most people have planted a tree, but the graves in open areas have a selection of wild flowers; there were drifts of snowdrops everywhere, with a few crocuses just coming through. We'd told the funeral director we weren't having a ceremony as such, but he read a short text specifically for people who have donated their body, and it was lovely.

Afterwards, N had booked the six of us into a nearby tea room. This was a bit of a fiasco. Despite us having booked, when we walked in at the appointed time, they had virtually run out of food. No cream teas. We ordered baked potatoes to be told they only had two left. In the end,we ordered four toasties and two potatoes ... and they took an hour to arrive. During this time we watched trays laden with cream teas being carried into the other room, and one member of staff sat down and calmly ate her own lunch. No-one had the wit to pop to the greengrocer two doors away to buy some salad to go with our orders. They were only saved from at least two bad TripAdvisor reviews by taking 50% off the bill as a result of our complaints. And actually the toasties were very nice. Hot tip: avoid Mrs C's vintage tearoom in Hucknall!