Also Ailz and I had to go and do the week's shopping. In the past my mother has made tut-tutting noises about how much we've spent- and I was dreading her doing it again. In the event she was sweetly complimentary about our efforts- but the damage has already been done.
Then there were some plants to be watered. I'd have happily gone and done it myself- but my mother wanted to be part of the action- and so I wheeled her down the drive and she was bossing me about. She has a way of saying, "What are you doing?" that Dame Edith Evans would have envied.
By evening I was ready to snap at the least little thing.