random ramblings: Funeral, friends and family

Oh dear, chasing my tail again, hence the lack of blogging. The funeral I went to on 22nd went quite well. I got there early,managed to find a free parking space, and sat and ate a sandwich in the car, then walked up to the church where we were members for 12 years in St Albans. I was amongst the first to arrive. The church gradually filled up, then the coffin was carried in. It was a very pretty coffin, decorated with pictures of bluebells. The service wasn't all miserable, her twin brother and older sister spoke about her, and from some of the tales her brother told it's a wonder she lived to the age that she did. The service was also full of hope as Chris knew Jesus as her Saviour and we are sure that she is now in heaven.
The family left for a private burial, in St Albans, and we went into the hall for refreshments. I just had a cup of tea, as I know how tempting these buffets can be, especially when one has had to wait till abut 2pm to eat. That is why I had the sandwich in the car. I caught up with friends, both from the St Albans church ,and the church we attended when we first came here. The family returned from the burial, but there were so many people wishing to talk to them that I wasn't able to. Thankfully it was a dry day, but very blustery, as I discovered when I tried to walk across the park. Scared that I might get blown over, I decided to walk along the street instead. The following day was dull, and quite frankly unworthy of comment
On the Saturday I again overslept, still sleeping badly. It was raining again, so we took the car into town. On the Sunday the family came for lunch because Son In Law had been unwell, and been ordered to rest.

Lydia at 5 weeks


Nathaniel has a snack

Unfortunately things went a bit awry when I tried to turn the oven up to do roasties and it went out and refused to relight. Fortunately I have a combination microwave so was able to put the oil covered potatoes in that. Then in the general mayhem I forgot to put water in the pressure cooker, realising in time before the veg burned. I also forgot to rearrange the potatoes,and some ended up extremely crunchy. However it was all edible, and enjoyed. Daughter had brought a dessert - treacle tart!! Not exactly WW friendly, so I had a small slice.
On the Monday it was wet again, and I caught up on the ironing. My sister was saying that she had always fancied living in one of the flats by the river in St Asaph, but I think she has now been cured of that desire.
The next day was a horrible dull miserable day, but I did have a delivery of some cutlery which I had tried to match up. I had found the pattern online, but in one set the knives were too long, however I can thoroughly recommend Cutlery Search if you need to replace or add to your cutlery.
I had a very busy day on Wednesday, I had lost a pound at weight watchers, then had to dash from there over to the private hospital, as my consultant wanted to do a12 month check on my mended shoulder. he was pleased with that one, but when I said the other was getting more painful, he sent me down to xray, then showed me the quite clear picture of the bone spur. So I now face another operation.
On the way back I stopped in the nearby town, grabbed a sandwich in the M&S Simply food, sat and ate it in the car, then zoomed off to get to parent and toddlers. I arrived before the leader, and as I waited for her to come and unlock the door, realised just how much the temperature had dropped. We had a good attendance despite the cold. the afterwards I went to do the weekly shop in Sainsbury's. I was quite tired in the evening, just about managing to watch an episode of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip on iplayer. We were sad to hear of the death of David Barby in the Summer.
On Thursday I was busy moving stuff from the guest bedroom to the back bedroom, as husband hasn't made much inroads into his sorting. We have had one charity shop bag so far. Then I vacuumed, put the guest bed together, and made it up. I missed Women's hour as I was waiting for a delivery, which Amazon had somehow confused, then another delivery, this time a mattress topper, not foam, as I cannot get used to the new bed. I am now sleeping better, and no longer ache all over in the morning.
On Friday our Son and his wife arrived in the afternoon, followed by Daughter and Son in Law. they were off to London to see the lights, but were leaving Tom and Nathaniel with us, as neither would have enjoyed traipsing around London. Husband had been to Bristol, and was back very early so he helped me supervise one excited dog, and one over excited toddler. I had to put a stop to the ball games when I got hit in the eye.
Nathaniel had his evening meal with us, which he thoroughly enjoyed, then I took him home, got him ready for bed, and he was asleep very quickly. I do envy him! I then settled down to wait for the wanderers to return.
On the Saturday, we walked into town with Son and Daughter in law as they wanted to buy new wellies for dog walking. We treated them to lunch in M&S, then we got the bus back up after a bit of M&S shopping, but they walked up the hill. Later we all went up to Ashridge park to walk Tom, or rather we ambled and he chased the ball. When we got back he had to have his undercarriage showered as he was filthy, the frost had not penetrated the trees and the ground was very boggy.
On Sunday, it was our pastor's last day, so there was much sadness. All the family came for lunch, but Son and Daughter in law had to leave soon afterwards. The others stayed, but much later Nat fell asleep on the carpet, so we had to go to church and leave them there. Daughter didn't have her keys as she thought, so they were still there when we got back, Nathaniel was wide awake, They gathered their stuff together and went home. All in all a good weekend, no major culinary disasters.Will upload some pics.