Categories: uncategorized
Date: 21 June 2005 22:14:15
It has been some time since last I blogged.... it has been some time since last had ten minutes of guilt-free time to sit at my computer desk with a cup of coffee and just while the hours away. Hours, what are those? But I fully intend to while away a few minutes now while I have my cup of coffee and relax after my first ever Full Local Preachers' Meeting and before I tackle the next task on my to-do sheet which is writing to a friend whose wife has died.
Life here is fairly hectic as we prepare for a trip up to the Midlands to a) see my sister, b) deliver my father for a fortnight's break, c) go to a Church of Fools retreat and d) pick up Tiddles from his Peak District adventure. I wonder how he's getting on. Today, the itinerary informs me, he should have been having a tour of Chatsworth House. I'm quite jealous. I've never actually been round the house, despite it being only a short distance from where I grew up, and despite having had a lovely afternoon in the gardens there... and I resented having to miss a school trip there in order to do my Maths O'level a year early. Humph... at the time I wasn't too sure whether it was a sacrifice worth making... was it? I don't envy him tomorrow's trip, though - a full day's hiking in this heat! I wonder how he's coping. I had my obligatory postcard from him, sent the very first day: " Having a loverly time. We got here at five pm and had tea at harf past six. It was chicken (something) and chips and salard and was very nice. Hope you and Smudgelet are having fun. Love Tiddles. PS Your turn to right"
My grand attack on the boys' room is in hand. I'll be at it in earnest next week when we get back - cleaning thoroughly, decorating and..... mwahahahaha.... dividing it into two separate halves by means of a row of wardrobes from my room. (You can imagine the chaos in the meantime, however - my bed has disappeared under the entire collection of our assembled wardrobe contents!) This will hopefully put an end to their night-time natterings (Smudgelet likes to keep Tiddles awake and then sit back to watch the fireworks afterwards!) and their interminable arguing over who's turn it is to tidy the bedroom. The boxing up of all their toys and books was a depressing task, made bearable by my wonderful friend M who shared the task. Five boxes of books, partially read; three boxes of clothing; an empty washbasket turning into an overflowing washbasket by the time I'd picked their clothes off the floor; three small boxes of undamaged toys; two bags of teddies; and... wait for it... five huge black bags of broken toys, snotty tissues, and the assorted wrappers of various purloined sweets and biscuits!!!! Poor Smudgelet caught the brunt of my anger when he came skipping merrily home from school!!!
Meanwhile Dad's trip to the cancer clinic brought a mixed blessing. I can't quite express how I feel. Suffice to say, the cancer seems to be responding to treatment again and the bone scan did not reveal any spread to the bones. The consultant smiled reassuringly, but offered no explanation of the pain Dad's in other than the "simple" aches and pains of getting old. Maybe the recent Xrays will tell us more... maybe. But the signs are definitely there of diminishing memory and self-control and at present I feel myself dreading for him a prolonged suffering through Azheimers - and to be honest, I dread that for me as well, both in the demands on my time and patience and emotion and in the torture of seeing him brought so low.
He's having the shower, though - it's being fitted some time next week :D :D :D :D (Don't get me started on the story of the tiles!!!)
Now, before I write this letter, I have to make some decisions about the menu for my nephew's wedding in August. We have to order our five courses in advance. Hmmm.. it all sounds very posh. Anyone got a dictionary of cuisine so I can work out what on earth it is I'm ordering. Do they do fish and chips? Somehow I don't think they cater for fussy eaters!