Nathaniel meets Great Grandma.

 Well I certainly haven't been in the old routine this week. On Monday afternoon I went to Watford Junction to pick up  my Mother in law, who had travelled all the way from the South Coast by train to meet her great Grandson. The last time we saw her was less than 2 days before he was born. She did very well for an 86 year old with poor eyesight, but had had lots of offers of help with her case when she changed at Clapham Junction.
Daughter had been to visit friends,  so we had lunch and went round to her home at the prearranged time. there was no-one there so I let Grandma in, and came home for my mobile, only to discover that I already had it in the dark depths of my bag. I couldn't contact Daughter for a while, but when she eventually rang she said she had been delayed by one of Baby's more spectacular nappy changes, and was at that moment buying a different size in Tesco.Personally I dislike disposables, and find terry nappies much more reliable; there seems to be doubt over when to change sizes in disposables, but I digress.
They eventually arrived and baby had a bath in the sink, and was soon clean and sweet smelling enough to be held by Great Grandma. We spent a very pleasant time baby worshipping   chatting and Nathaniel got to know Great Grandma.
 As we parted I said I was planning to take Mum in law to the big garden centre for lunch, and Daughter said 'Can we come too'? 'Yes of course' So on Tuesday which was a horrid wet day we went there and had lunch, and I met an old friend and former Sunday School teaching colleague, so she got the chance to meet baby and coo over him too. We women are a soppy lot. Most of the garden centre is under cover, and they have a huge new Christmas shop. Baby isn't quite old enough to appreciate it yet, but we oohed and aahed, and I bought a new Christmas tree topper. My fairy hasn't realised yet she has been pensioned off, I've had her for 25 years, and she has already been revamped once. I did venture into the rain to get a trolley, and a few trays of winter flowering pansies.
We went through the indoor plant section where I bought some orchid feeders, and Daughter chose a snazzy striped pot for one of her plants, then back into the main section where I chose daffodil bulbs for my pots, and we admired some clothes; then back through indoor plants to the checkouts. Of course we took a detour round the gift shop, and I found a larger key holder than the one I have. Now that I have keys to Mum-in law's and Daughter's, they all jostle for space and I often find some on the floor presumably having been pushed off by a big heavy bunch. The total at the checkout wasn't too horrendous, but we really noticed the rain when we came out. Oops I had forgotten I didn't have my own car, but everything went in Daughter's boot thankfully.
On Wednesday we were quite late setting off for the Sainsbury's run, but it didn't take too long. I did however
spend too much. After lunch I decided to start my pots, but soon ran out of compost. I nipped over to Homebase and  got two manageable ones, also some different coloured pansies for the flower beds. As I approached the till I saw that they had rock salt, so struggled to heave a bag into my trolley. I managed to heave it into my boot, but there it has stayed. I suppose that now I have stocked up we will have a mild winter. Daughter came round soon after and her husband came after work. I had made minced beef cobbler, and we had a bought sticky toffee pudding. We had a very pleasant evening.
On Thursday we were planning to go and visit Husband's other Aunty, but Daughter struggled a bit getting going, so we had a quick lunch and went after that. This lady is even older than Mum in law, but is very cheerful despite health problems. She has a grand total of 12 grandchildren, and one great grandchild and another on the way. It was lovely to see her, we hadn't seen her since Daughter's wedding, she was a bit to frail to come to our Son's. One of her Grandchildren is due to marry in Scotland in December. Her Daughter in law has promised to fly down and escort her there, but Aunty seems quite apprehensive about that.
We came home across the Dunstable Downs but too quickly to admire the view very much. Daughter offered to stop, but we preferred to get home.
On Friday morning, Mum in law accompanied me on my walk to our local Sainsbury's, but said she hadn't walked so far in ages. Later, in the afternoon daughter came over with a pile of tumble drying to do, and we went with her to Watford as she had presents to buy. We had a very late lunch in John Lewis, but the portions were huge. We looked after Nathaniel whilst Daughter flitted around shops. He was very vocal in a bookshop, wanting to be released form his car seat on wheels so he could look around, but his Mum came back and we were soon on the move again.
Back home I did all the tumble drying so that he had clean clothes for the weekend, to visit his other Grandma. We sat down to herb crusted haddock, which is a recipe I got from the internet, and Mum in law enjoyed it. Then we were quite good and finished off the huge fruit salad I had made for the previous evening. I discovered some kiwi berries in Sainsbury's and had added those. They are tiny kiwi fruits, but very sweet.
Mum in law had painful feet on Saturday, so husband and I went on our own to town. We went into husband's favourite gents shop to order new trousers, which were not in stock, and I got some photo's of Nathaniel so that Mum in law can boast to her friends show her friends back home.
The extra hour threw me right out this morning, I seemed to have too much time before church. We had a young LTS student, who was attached to our church last year, our pastor was preaching elsewhere. The sermon was a lot shorter than usual. It is raining here again, it sounds an awful thing to say, but I hope it rains harder this evening. Our local council close off the High street for a Halloween fest, with stalls etc, and it becomes very difficult for us as the people attending fill up all the car parking spaces outside the church, and the local car park, leaving us to have to walk great distances from town centre car parks. I dislike Halloween, it is something that the shops have cottoned on to as away to make money, and I find this obsession with the occult most unhealthy. I read recently of a young man who became interested in the occult, and went to a local graveyard to try and speak to the dead at Halloween. Who knows what he saw that night, but he has never been the same since. People don't realise that ghosts are not dead people but evil spirits, masquerading as the dead. Evil is very much alive in the world today, there is a spiritual warfare going on. which is why I will not treat Halloween lightly, or wish anyone happy Halloween. Must go as we need to get to church early!