Granddad

My granddad, or Supergranddad as we call him as he was a great-grandfather aged 95, died last Monday evening. He suffered a stroke a little while before Christmas and was unable to recover. He was very well cared for by my Mum and Uncle and the hospital staff, though it's been a very painful time for Mum and Uncle struggling with communication difficulties and watching him deteriorate and suffer. Now they are busy preparing for the funeral. I've been able to help a bit with this, but Mum and Uncle have most of it well under control.

Even though Granddad was 95 and had had a stroke, well, we knew he wouldn't go on forever, his dying still feels shocking. Age has nothing to do with it, his absence will leave a hole in our lives. Right up 'til the end, I could have conversations with him and get a more intelligent response than most people I know (no offense!) and he had a fantastic memory - puts mine to shame! And he kept himself as fit as he could too, working on his allotment, cycling, walking everywhere and wouldn't be beaten by his first stroke. The recovery he made from that was astounding. But this last stroke was too much for him and I'm glad that he's now at peace.

So, now, guess what? I've been trying to follow his example since New Year by trying to live a healthier, more active life. It's not easy and I'm building up slowly, but I have my bike out now and am using it. I don't get far. I am extremely unfit and I have to carry Hope on the back which adds to the weight. She'd make a good personal trainer as she shrieks "come on! go faster Mummy" and " we're not going home, yet!"

This afternoon I cycled up to the cricket ground where two new benches have recently been placed. One of them is in memory of the young lad, Jack, from next door who died just over a year ago and the other one is for Ricky, another young man from the neighbourhood who died last year.

I've just got back from another panto rehearsal with the kids. It's coming together nicely now and although I've seen it several times, it still makes me laugh. I'll be sorry when it's all over which won't be long now.

Sunday.

A lovely, warm day. I won't bother with writing tonight. Just let the pictures do the talking.
(Except, perhaps, to explain that in this picture I am cutting Henry's hair!).

On my Sunday Soapbox.

This could be a regular feature... or maybe not. This blog is, or has developed into a place to document what we do as a family, probably focussing more on the children and to share ideas/links with anyone else who may be interested. However, now and again I may have a little rant/ talk out loud about what's on my mind. I don't want to do this too often. I think Ben Elton and Russell Brand do it brilliantly and so I'll leave it to them. But I think I can be forgiven for doing it occasionally.

I don't know if anyone else finds this but I mostly find that when I've talked to other Mums, colleagues, etc about something, say for instance one of the kids struggling with maths, other people seem very reluctant, even downright secretive about sharing any useful information about what they might know or have experienced. Perhaps it is just me. I can't think of anyone, in real life, that said 'oh there is a good website/book you might like to look at' or ' we tried...'

Actually, I know this happens to Hubby from time to time, though he's more nonchalant about it. I have seen it happen when he is about to embark upon some diy project at home and he is talking to someone about what he is planning to do. Of course, his audience at the time has little practical advice to offer. But then later, oh yes, later when the job is over and done, the aforementioned audience calls round for a look and then guess what happens...
S'right! 'You should have done it like this', or ' Oh, I have a such n such gizmo you could have borrowed that would have made your job easier!'
Frustrating, isn't it?
It seems if you want to know something or get help you really have to dig.
But that's one of the things I love about the blogs I read. That there are some people out there who are more than willing to share and support other people, total strangers.
I got thinking about this post because today I visited my favourite blog Sarah Sellers.
http://www.sarahsellers.co.uk/blog/
I've got more help/info/links from this blog than I have from any colleague, training course etc.
Today she was, again, highlighting the success her daughter is achieving from an on-line programme called Conquer Maths. They are offering a discount at the moment. I have asked her previously about this programme because I was interested in it for Honor but at the time it covered Key stages 3 and 4. But now they are introducing lessons for years 5 and 6. Hats off to her for taking the trouble to draw my attention to it.
Anyway.
I shall continue writing my blog as usual. And I hope any readers will get something useful out of it every now and then.
http://www.conquermaths.com/free/index.php

Yesterday I had a bit of time to make these little cubby hole curtains for the kitchen from my new 'wobble stripe' material. They are very cheerful. (Just like me!!!)

The children decorated biscuits again, from the rest of the kit I bought last week, but I did add some extra colours this time. (Natural, of course) . There is so much stuff you can buy now for this kind of thing compared to when we were young.

This morning, as I shopped in Morrissons, I bumped into the ambulance lady who respond to our emergency the other week. It was nice to go and thank her and to explain the outcome of it all. She is in the St John's Ambulance. I used to belong to that when I was young and Honor has expressed an interest in it too. So I shall be looking into that for her.

I've had a lovely day today, I have! The kids have been well behaved, got on with things without the nagging... that in itself is enough. But we had a lovely lunchtime treat, meeting my best friend Lisa and her nieces for lunch at Frankie and Benny's. It's the first time I've been there. I don't go out of my way to go to restaurants with kids in tow. I resent paying lots of money for a meal I can't relax and enjoy, usually spending up to an hour trying to keep whining and fidgeting kids entertained before getting served, even! But this place wasn't too bad if you don't mind hearing Cliff singing 'Congratulations' several times over for the birthdy parties. Hope was very good. She was happy sitting in her high chair for an hour and a half watching all the goings on. I brought bread sticks and fromage frais with me for her to eat. The meal deals for the kids were very reasonable, in my opinion. For £3.95, they got a main meal, dessert and unlimited soft drinks. I enjoyed my food, too.

I'm about to get some more lovely grub. Here I am, sitting at our Valentine's dinner table. We're having pear and roquefort toasts http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8262/roquefort-toasts-with-peppered-pears followed by roast duck in a redcurrant sauce. YUM!

I had a nice day with Mum today. I don't often get to spend time with her. She still works full time and her spare time is taken up with looking after my Dad and Grandad. So I enjoyed going round for lunch with the baby and afterwards we had a browse around the town. I got this pretty dish for the cherries in a charity shop. I got some books and Barbies for Hm too. She's very miserable at the moment. Mum thinks her nose is out of joint because of all the attention I'm giving to the baby. And she came home from school saying that she's being bullied. One of the girls in her class said she looks like a hamster. I'm not sure that constitutes bullying. I think the word bullying is used far more nowadays. When I was at school, a bully was a real hard nut like that Gripper Stebson in Grange Hill. And they were quite rare. But the 'bully' label is used a lot more frequently these days. I mean, kids are pretty mean to each other in general and do tease. I understand how she feels though. I know what girls are like and some don't get any better when they are grown up! So I'll keep an eye on it.
Other news: Hubby has been called up for Jury Service. He is not pleased!

Good news

This blog is mainly a record of my time with the kids but I also like to write about, though not too often, about how I'm feeling and other stuff that goes on. It's therapeutic and anyway, these things affect the atmosphere in the house. The last 2 weeks have been on a bit of a downer but there's no point dwelling on them. And anyway I find the not-so-good times make you appreciate the good times all the more. So today I made the effort to get out a bit more because I've been stuck in for far too long and definitely need a distraction. I took the baby to the garden centre for a bit of a mooch about. We are very short of money this month so I had to be strong and resist blowing my housekeeping budget on some of the pretty things in the sale. Though, I might go back next week and see if things get reduced even further. I did buy some seeds, though. A mix of vegetables and flowers. I don't have the compost yet but I hope to start some seeds of sometime in the next 2 weeks.

I also went to pick the kids up from school ( because Hubby has been doing this job since Christmas) and was very glad I did. There are some lovely Mums on that school run and it was nice to see and have a little chat with some of them. Best of all was hearing the news that a friend is pregnant. We were both pregnant at the same time (while I was expecting Hope) but very sadly her baby died just before he was due. I know she is excited but I can imagine the anxiety and fear she must have to deal with too.

The snow is beginning to disappear. Fortunately the kids had a chance to go out this afternoon and have a snowball fight with the neighbours before it vanishes altogether. Honor made the most of it but Henry quickly feels the cold and wet and gives up to come indoors.

Finally, I've just been reading the latest post from Unplug Your Kids. It reminds me that we also need to revisit our discipline strategy. We do something similar with a smiley face board but it has been neglected a bit and the reward and consequence part of it has become unclear. I like the idea of a 'chore basket' so I'm going to get thinking about how to incorporate one into our household routine. I'm not sure if I want to use it as a punishment, though. Maybe they use it as taking responsibility for things that need to be done around the house, but the lucky dip element of it to make it fun. I'll have to think about it.

Taking things slow.

It has been a slow start to the year so far and this morning is no different. Although it hasn't snowed for a while, there's still tonnes of the stuff outside and although the family seems to be on the mend, progress is slow. Hubby took Honor to school this morning but Henry doesn't seem ready to go back yet. The baby's fever has subsided but she now seems to have a dry, irritating cough which kept the two of us up most of the night, again. Hubby, too, was awake coughing. Then this morning I had an upset tummy. So apart from shuffling to and from the washing machine now and again, I've not done much else except read some lovely, colourful blogs and get inspired to grow things, make things etc. A few years ago I got Hubby to buy me a sewing machine. I learned to hand sew when I was young but could never get the hang of a sewing machine. My Mum used to let me use hers and I remember making a skirt suit when I was 13 and wearing it to school on non-uniform day! It attracted a lot of attention - everyone else wore jeans! But it's the bobbin bit I just can't seem to work out. Anyway, my sewing machine soon ended up in the loft but I've asked Hubby to get it down again and we'll try and have another go at working it out.
I'm also dreaming about all the things I want to grow in the garden this year and can't wait to get sowing seeds - a much easier kind of sowing, hee, hee! It'd be nice to have a wander around the garden centre and perhaps get some seeds and stuff ready, but I don't think I want to drive in these conditions just yet. I'm so tired and drained of energy. I'll just flop about here and try not to let the housework build up too much. I have a joint of brisket to put in the slow cooker for later.

Clearing up after Christmas.

I've spent yesterday and this morning clearing away all the Christmas stuff and arranging some new bits 'n pieces, mostly purchases from our holiday. This is the Cath Kidston jug that I bought in Lyme Regis...

And this chicken pottery I bought in a giftshop/tearoom in a place called Abbotsbury where we stopped one day for a walk and popped in here for some homemade cakes and rolls. Mmmmm. I'm using this to keep my camomile tea bags in.

This is part of a tea set I bought in a charity shop in Bridport for £2.50!

And these hyacinths I bought in Tesco yesterday for £2!

I've got fish chowder in this 'ere slow cooker for dinner tonight.

It was absolutely freezing in bed last night, even with the heating on. Everyone seems a bit tired and 'off' today especially hubby who appears to have 'man-flu'. He is irritated with me being irritated about so much rubbish and clutter everywhere. I popped next door on Sunday to thank my neighbour for looking after our chickens. When she opened the door I couldn't help but notice how smart her hallway is... no coats and shoes to be seen and she has a carpet which isn't filthy from people trudging in and out with dirty shoes on. How do people do that? (She has 3 kids, too, although much older than ours).

More snow is forecast. Mr Sainsbury delivered my shopping this morning, loads of stuff to keep us going.

Grouchy!

I'm very tired again today. This morning we were all still asleep when the alarm went off at 8am. I'm usually up before the alarm goes off but not today. I did get going eventually though, enough to get a parcel sent off to my brother in Australia. I took it to one of the Post Office services at the local pub, a lot less stressful than going to the P.O. in town. I had a bit of a cleaning blitz in the kitchen too, scrubing down the work surfaces and tiles with a mix of bleach and bicarb of soda. The oven badly needs doing but Hubby said he'd do that soon! But I'm back to being tired again - very irritated by the phone constantly ringing and it's just people in call centres and sometimes they rig it so that when you pick up the phone, it calls them so you end up paying for the call. They ought to be prosecuted! Trying to help Honor with her homework is very draining too. I wish Primary kids didn't get homework.

I'm starting to get niggling pains with my teeth, too. Just in time for Christmas. Boo!

Getting on our Wickes!

Somebody e-mailed me this picture today... can't think why!

Our weekend was a busy one, taken up again with diy and trips to Wickes (which the kids HATE!) Hubby was busy replacing the old living room door with a new pine one and is in the process of replacing the architrave and skirting board too. I'm very impressed, it's looking much nicer now. So because Hubby was busy I had to take the kids out in the cold and dark on Saturday evening for the 'switching on' of the lights in town. Honor had to be there with the Brownies. Henry found it very boring and uncomfortable and so I had to reward him with a new light sabre from one of the street traders. It was quite nice, though, to see some of the Mums from Honor's old school again.

And my brother rang me with some exciting news from Down Under...

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Hubby is now off, scot free, one could say. As I write, relaxing in an hotel room in Johannesburg, though I'm sure, after a hard days work and a very long night of travelling. I didn't sleep too well myself. Little doubts and worries kept on popping into my head like 'can I smell smoke... is the smoke alarm working?' 'What if I die in the night? Will anyone find us in time to save the baby?'

Yes, I do worry and hubby complains that I tend to be pessimistic in general. But something always goes wrong when he goes away and so today, yes things did start to go wrong. Just a few days before he left the dishwasher broke down. That's not so bad. I can live without that. Last time he went, it was the washing machine. And to top it all Henry had spent the night vomiting over every bit of bedlinen I had. The next morning I was chucking all the vomit soaked bedclothes out into the yard when the Jehova's Witnesses turned up asking me if I'd thought about Armaggedon. Well, yes, though I think it's just happened! Anyway, today I kept finding mysterious puddles of water in the middle of the kitchen floor. After clearing them up I worked out that the water seems to be leaking from the dishwasher. Also. The sink appears to be blocked and therefore the water is taking a really long time to drain away. I went out and got some Mr Muscle, but it hasn't helped. So, for now, I've stuffed a load of kitchen towel under the dishwasher while I see what happens and think what to do next.

I got my shopping delivered today. I had ordered a packet of mature grated cheese but this had been substituted for medium. Then the delivery man asked why couldn't I just get a normal packet and grate it myself. So I found myself having to defend these little shortcuts I make in order to make life a bit easier. For goodness sake. Now I've got white goods to fix, 3 kids to look after, a christmas cake to make (I started soaking the fruit in the brandy last night - mmmm)... I don't HAVE TIME to grate cheese! And I don't know what I've done to change the text here. (I did, however, get time for a little walk along the creek and take a couple of nice photos including one of a boat called 'Henry').

Anyway. Tomorrow I have some friends coming round for coffee. Hopefully this lot will turn up!