Monday 31 October 2011

To sleep, perchance to dream....I wish!

The beginning of last week wasn't terribly exciting, back in the old routine, washing the stuff we had brought home with us, walking to Sainsbury's to get stuff, as I'd only really catered for the weekend, and trying to slide back into non holiday mode.
Coming home from holidays often brings another problem for me. I don't always sleep well in a strange bed. If the bed is too hard, it can aggravate my disc problem, as can long journeys. During the week away, I found the bed increasingly uncomfortable, should have taken the mattress topper, but it is so bulky, and on holiday last year in Dorset the bed was so hard that it made no difference and I ended up in the other bedroom. I began to feel the warning signs, the pain in my ankle, the burning in my hip, the ache in my leg muscle, and finally the niggle in the back, all signs that my back isn't coping, and the disc is swollen, and the squashed nerve complaining.
You would think then that I would sleep well when back home. Not so! My body has to adjust to my own bed again. plus the annoying cattarhal cough came back, so all in all I struggled to sleep last week.
I had been asked by Son to pass on something to Daughter, so was only too pleased to be able to visit Daughter and see our Grandson again. He makes me laugh, he is always so 'busy' never still, he reminds me of my son at that age. My Mum used to say for many years 'that child is never still'. It was quite true, he used to burn off calories at a great rate, till he hit the teenage years!
Some of the crockery replacements I had ordered hadn't turned up, and I managed to contact the seller who promised a refund. Fortunately I managed to locate more on ebay. I now have a full set plus one spare except  for the cereal bowls. I had discovered that a comfortable range of shoes had been discontinued, so set about tracking some down online.
I also rang our friends C&C, but the wife had a cold so my visit to them was postponed again. A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the fraud on our mobile phone account. The promised refund had not materialised, they had deducted our latest bill from it, but I was annoyed as we were getting close to having  'more month left than money', a situation that would not have occurred had they refunded the money immediately.  I got the letter confirming that I would not be getting any more pension from the NHS, so had to gather all the paperwork on that in order to compose yet another letter to the tax people.
Wednesday was Weight Watchers. there were fewer there as it was half term. the good news is that despite being away I had still managed to lose a pound. I then went to Sainsbury's for the weekly shop, spending more than I had intended to, but I had a triple points voucher. so managed to use that and get triple points on an expensive shop. How sad am I? However I now have over £70 worth of points, so Sainsbury's will once again pay for my Christmas. Husband had left early for a meeting in Bristol, and was home a bit earlier, so was able to refit the child car seat which we had removed prior to going away, to give me more legroom, and also more room for the stuff we take with us, and the shopping on the way to the self catering properties.
Thursday morning I struggled to be up early to go and collect Nathaniel. He however was bright eyed and bushy tailed and raring to go. He managed  to lose a shoe as he pottered around my house. As I came to load the washing machine, I discovered it in there. His efforts at putting everything down the toilet have been thwarted, so he has now found a new repository for stuff! Reminder to self, check washing machine for foreign objects before use on Thursdays and Fridays. He was soon up to his old trick of pressing the washing machine buttons, he loves the way they flash and beep, and I had to completely reset one cycle to ensure it got the required wash time.
I decided to take him into town to get some photocopies of documents and we set off, with him in the buggy, and me chatting away to him, pointing things out. I tried to let him walk with reins on, but he objected and asked to be picked up. He then started to play with the buggy handles. I put him down again and redistributed the shopping on the buggy, so that it wouldn't topple over. He complained again, so I abandoned attempts and he went back in the buggy.
When I finally reached the library it was closed. New opening hours mean it opens from 2-7 on Thursdays. there was a photocopying shop nearby, so I went there and got the copies done for me. Nathaniel fell asleep on the way back through town, but woke up when we reached the bus stop, so he was wide awake when we got home. I quickly reheated something for his dinner, and cooked some veg to go with it. the veg were too hot however, then I put them in the fridge and forgot about them. He ate his cottage pie, and some veg that had cooled, then lifted his bowl and attempted to say 'all gone'. After I had given him his pot of yoghurt, I remembered the veg. I put them on his tray, and he dipped some of the carrot slices in the yoghurt. After lunch he played for a while, then I put him upstairs for a nap. he eventually settled, and I caught up with a couple of jobs, then had a rest myself. All too soon he was awake, and came down for snack time. Later I gave him an egg mayo sandwich, but he wasn't keen, he wasn't too keen on his satsuma either, so I let him get down, and got ready to take him home. Grandad arrived  when we were at Daughter's, and  when Daughter came home we chatted for a while then came home. As I was tired I did something quick; salmon steaks with veg. Another disturbed night, and I struggled to get up on Friday morning. I decided on a fairly quiet day with Nathaniel, a trip to the park on the way back from our walk, he didn't fall asleep this time. I thought he was eating his chicken casserole but afterwards I found a little pile of chicken bits on the seat of the high chair. He went for a nap pretty soon after, and had a good hour and a half.
 I gave him his snack earlier than usual, then he just played quietly, it was a really warm day, so I had the back door open and  the safety gate in place. I gave him a cheese spread sandwich for tea, I had discovered that he knows how to put the cover on his sippy cup, but he had to bring it to me to have it removed. It is fascinating to watch him developing and learning new skills, we are so privileged to live so close. Once again husband came to Daughter's and played for awhile with his grandson.
I had been more organised, and whilst N was eating his tea had prepared a casserole, so when we got home agin all I had to do was veg. I actually got to bed earlier on Friday and slept really well.
Saturday was the usual shopping, but we went by car and then took our sandwiches up to Ashridge, then got out our cameras. I was disappointed  that  all the trees were the same, beech, and there was not much variation in colour. we drove the scenic route home, and  I made a hot pot using lean lamb. We remembered to put the clocks back, and I had a reasonable night.
Daughter and Son in Law had gone to his parents for the weekend, as it was his father's Birthday. Daughter was meant to be doing creche at church on the Sunday, but could not find anyone to replace her, so she gamely got a train to St Albans on Sunday morning, then she rang us up after church, husband collected her, and she had lunch with us, then dragged me out for walk. After tea she came to our church service with us which was good.  The Pastor was up to his usual high standard.
Unfortunately, her husband had taken Nathaniel with him to his home church, and in the creche there Nathaniel toppled over and cut his head on a radiator, so he spent 2 hours in A&E,. They glued the cut together, it was small but deep. His daddy brought him back home after the Birthday tea. Daughter says that when he arrived home he was quite glad to see her.
Well I think I will save what I did today for next week's blog. I am not the world's fastest or most accurate typist. I will try and upload some pics of the woods.




carpet of leaves

a giant begins to fall

 a pigeon bathes in a puddle

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