It was all going so well... until HMS Sultan's fireworks exploded - Opinion

The Saturday bath and bed routine couldn’t have gone better. They were in bed by 7pm and were worn out, so both were asleep in minutes. Piece of cake.

At 10.30pm, what can only be described as a firework display of justice, one that was equal to Cowes Week, took to the skies.

Apparently it was a party for officers at HMS Sultan.

The dog went ballistic and several loud, thunderous explosions went off and both kids woke up.

I managed to settle them about 11:30pm and went to bed myself.

But with loud booming music wafting across the night sky from that party, I struggled to sleep and finally went down just after it finished at 1am.

At 5.30am both kids woke up.

They were jumping on my bed. They then played in their rooms and I drifted off.

I woke up at 6.30am with the dog in our room.

Oh dear. It was all quiet. When your three and five-year-olds are quiet you know something is up.

True to form, I got to the kitchen and found they were having their own breakfast picnic.

Everything had been removed from the cupboards and was on the dining room table.

The Nutella jar was open and empty, a loaf of bread finished off, birthday cake finished and sweet wrappers opened and consumed.

Angel Cake was lined up on the floor and packets of Pom-Bears were awaiting consumption.

The baby gate is no longer an obstacle for the kids and if you don’t hear them they are straight downstairs helping themselves to breakfast.

Sunday was a tough day, with little sleep and the kids on a sugar comedown by 10am I was relieved when Sarah returned from her night away.

She was impressed at how well I’d coped. I’ve not told her the truth!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hot tub on tap will guarantee balmy Mediterranean nights

It’s the last full week of the school year and, for the first time in more than 10 years, we are having a staycation.

The hassle of packing, flying and car-hiring doesn’t appeal this year. We just want to take it easy. We will pack up the car and head to Swanage for a week and the pooch is coming too.

We have a lodge with a hot tub, just five minutes from the beach and the steam railway.

It will be nice having a break from the Mediterranean heat and, if the weather stays like this, it will be perfect.

I might miss those balmy nights abroad though where it’s still 25C at midnight, but the hot tub will be 40C at midnight, so I may just survive!

Pride cometh before an MOT fail on my new double decker

A few weeks ago I was banging on about the virtues of double decker bus ownership. A few weeks on, and after an MOT failure, I’m not so sure.

She only failed on the front offside brake and in disgrace she returned to base ready to head off to get the brakes sorted.

But upon my return she failed to start.

The starter motor was well and truly jammed. Not even plenty of whacks with my persuader tool (a hammer) would start her up.

With the air brakes locked on, she can’t even be towed.

So what on earth do I do now?

Does anyone need a static bus for use as a garden shed, or storage room, or anything else for that matter?