Categories: uncategorized
Date: 29 May 2004 20:30:44
Goodness, it's hard work being industrious. Thank goodness I let myself be diverted a couple of times today or I'd be a crumpled heap... or rather, even more of a crumpled heap. Having got rid of the Smudgelets for the day - my friend picked them up at 7.30 this morning and returned them twelve hours later! - I have devoted the day to decluttering, gardening, and procrastinating in the Church of Fools. I'm so pleased with myself. The lounge is a disaster area apart from two corners, but those two corners are completely sorted. A box is now nicely filling up with the books from my bookshelf that I can bear to part with. Another box is full of every cassette and cassette case I own, waiting for the two to be reunited. All the drawers from my desk have been emptied into two small boxes and four bin bags. All the ironing and clothes have been relocated to Dad's lounge while he's away for sorting and mending and charity-bagging where appropriate. And I had a brainwave once I started getting bored and went outside to clean the climbing frame and trim the hedge from behind it (a hedge comprising mainly holly and brambles which makes a lovely cushion when they fall off!). This means that, weather permitting, the Smudgelets will play outside tomorrow afternoon and leave me to get on with my redesign of the lounge.
Dad's staying with my sister this week. I miss him, but it's nice to be able to get on with things... and also nice for my sister to get a reminder of what Dad's health is like. He's getting confused more often these days. I had a phone call to say he couldn't find one set of tablets in the packs I'd got ready for him, despite me having shown him three times specifically where they were. Still, my sister's taken him to her doctor as he had a little infection under his eyelid, and the doctor gave him the second opinion on his sight that he so needed. He is going to have to give the car up. Maddeningly, my sister who would benefit from it is determined not to have it because it wouldn't be fair on the rest of us. She cannot understand that it would be so much easier for Dad to give it up if he could give it to her, and the rest of us are agreed on that.
Tiddles was an angel yesterday, cleaning Dad's Camellia bush of the rust which covers every leaf. It's a long-winded task, cleaning each individual leaf with a toothbrush and some washing liquid water, but he bravely carried on. As he started to flag, the fish man came round to see if we wanted any fresh fish, and Tiddles agreed to continue brushing in return for me buying him two king prawns!
Smudgelet's birthday party is all arranged and we're getting quite excited, although a few people have contacted us to say they can't make it. We're doing well collecting sponsors so it looks like I'm not going to be able to get out of doing this bike ride. I'll have to buy a helmet, I suppose.