Apparently the most exciting thing that happened was my daughter's discovery of some water bugs living in a puddle, and the arrival of my dad's friend with some strawberries. Both went down well and it wasn't long before my daughter was asking Granda when he'd be taking her back.

When he told her he'd take back when she was next off school, she was very excited. However, it seems there was a breakdown in communication because while my dad meant he'd take her when she was on school holidays, my daughter took it to mean he'd be back for her at the weekend.

Of course the weekend came and at 8am she was on the phone, asking when Granda intended to pick her up.

Not wanting to disappoint her, it was decided that he'd take her down for five minutes that afternoon. My daughter was shocked.

"Five minutes!" she said. "But Granda you said that next time we went down it would be for a long, long time." "Ok," he said. "We'll stay for half-an-hour."

My daughter was excited. "And you said we'd take food," she informed him. "We'll take a biscuit," said my dad. "No Granda, we'll take a big picnic," said my determined daughter.

So before he knew what hit him, Granda and granddaughter were off to the allotment with a picnic hamper complete with sandwiches, drinks, biscuits and crisps.

As they left my daughter turned to him and declared, "Now don't forget that we're staying for a long, long time Granda. Remember, you promised."

When they arrived at the allotment, all was fine. My daughter collected some water bugs; they had their picnic and did some weeding. Finally they sat down for a rest.

My dad's allotment is in the middle of the countryside and there is nothing for miles around, so all was peaceful and calm with just the sound of the birds for company. Unfortunately, this soon changed for poor old Granda when my daughter started looking around at the vast emptiness. "Er Granda," she said. "Please could you tell me where the toilet is . . . I really need to go . . ."