Ever have one of those days when you should have just stayed in bed? – Lesley Keating

He usually puts those in for dry cleaning but, apparently, they were also suitable for a 30 degree wash. (Yes, I did check the label. What do you take me for?)

Afterwards I popped everything on a low tumble dry. Forty-five minutes later I idly began wondering about the trackies and hoody. Were they meant to be tumbled? Stopping the cycle in panic and fishing them out, I became aware the answer was ‘probably not’. 

In my defence, the label did say they could go on a cool tumble. But they didn’t look happy about it. One pair appeared virtually the same. Well, maybe a wee bit shorter. And tighter. Definitely tighter.

But the other pair had morphed into something that an eight-year-old would squeeze into. 

Yikes! 

I nearly hyperventilated when I checked the hoody, but, for some strange reason that was OK. 

So, I did what any self-respecting woman in my position would. I pulled the legs really hard, hoping to magically ‘grow’ them, before I finally gave up, folded them neatly and hid them in his wardrobe. I’ll deal with the fall-out later…

But that was nothing compared to dyeing our beautiful recently-fitted sink in the bathroom purple! 

A pack of cotton pads I’d left on the basin had come into contact with tea tree oil, and badly stained it with coloured print. 

Yes, I did try bleach assuming it would work and, no, it didn’t!  Even a scouring pad (yes, I know I shouldn’t have) yielded no better results. Evil stuff, Tea Tree Oil. An overnight soak in bleach and two further attempts finally worked. 

Mike did remark the house smelled like a chemical factory – oops!

Considering I actually set fire to our airing cupboard once and also burned a brand-new bedroom carpet with hair straighteners, I think I’ll stay in bed today and try to keep out of trouble.

Watching TV apart is what’s helped keep us together

TV’s Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford say the secret of happiness is separate TV rooms and I have to say I completely agree.

The couple, who’ve been married for 20 years, say they’re not being unsociable; it’s simply about choices. 

Ruth likes cookery shows while Eamonn prefers documentaries. So, they sit in separate rooms to watch TV – just like Mike and I do.

I admit to the odd soap and a bit of reality TV but I’m at my happiest with a Tudor drama like Wolf Hall.  Whereas Mike is obsessed with Top Gear and anything involving live police car and helicopter chases. 

We’ve been happily married for 27 years, so there must be something in it.

Don’t bribe children to eat vegetables – get creative

A mum on TV was upset because her kids refused to eat any vegetables so resorted to bribery with sweets. 

It seems that the world is full of parents who ‘can’t make their kids eat veg’ and kids who ‘won’t eat them’.The bribers are upset that their children are storing up health issues by not having their five-a-day. But they’ll happily stuff them full of sugar, fat and chemicals as a ‘reward’. 

When my daughter was little she loved fruit, but she wasn’t wild about vegetables. So, we simply hid them. One favourite was ‘cheese mountain’, a mashed potato hill with little bits of broccoli and carrots, topped with grated cheese. 

It must have worked as she’s vegan nowadays.