Catching Up

It was supposed to be a quiet week, with Nick, Saskia and Eartha away in Canada, but somehow it has turned into one of the busiest for a while. Once again, it has been one thing after another.

Last week Mum called over at Peggy's for a cup of tea, only to find Peggy collapsed on the floor, having had a stroke. Peggy lives alone and had been there on the floor over 24 hours. Mum rushed her off to hospital, and thankfully, she is making a slow recovery, but has little use of her left hand side at the moment. So the night before Nick and the girls were leaving I went visiting Peggy in hospital with Mum and one of Peggy's daughters. Nick and girls headed off horrendously early the next morning.
Not to be outdone, I took Donny and Mel up to the Yorkshire Dales for the weekend with the mountaineering club. Last time I packed in a rush I forgot Saskia's trousers. This time, to keep the tradition going, I forgot Donny's pyjamas. Oh well, she got to wear my T-shirt in bed instead.

We had a nice weekend, but the activity didn't stop there. Monday is Brownies, Tuesday is cubs, Wednesday we went climbing at the indoor wall, Thursday was choir and Strings group. In the midst of all this, Mum has taken up feeding the cat that Peggy was feeding for the other neighbours, fed our cat over the weekend and had the dog while we were away. She said she wants a weekend away herself to get away from all the animals!
We also ended up making marmalade. Peggy is a great cook, something I most certainly am not. Before her trip to hospital, she'd bought a whole load of Seville oranges, ready to turn into a culinary delight. The oranges were going past their best so Mum took up the baton. We boiled, sliced, sugared and simmered. It was a sticky experience. Eventually the stuff set, but it has been boiled to more of a brown than a golden orange colour. I'm sure Peggy would be horrified.

Best not tell her.

The car needed an MOT this week as well. (This is an annual safety check required by law.) The car needed a bit of work doing, so I ended up leaving it there for a couple of days. On a more positive note, there has been talk of some teaching work for next term. It's not as though I want to teach, specifically (in truth, I'm nervous and stressed just at the thought), but needs must and we are running out of savings to live on. On the down side, there's an interview of sorts, and as we all know, I am crap at selling myself, so that's something else to get stressed about.


Meanwhile, my brother Mike and girlfriend Angela have managed to get the keys for their new house. They bought it at auction and have had a nightmare time getting a mortgage on it in time. It's a cottage about 150 years old, and a renovation project, in need of a damp course. It is so pretty though. It has the most bucolic of names along the lines of Walnut Cottage, Rose Lane, Woodley and it fits its description. It is white on the outside, with black timber beams inside and two beautiful bay windows. It looks out over the town and fields. It's quite roomy inside, though the floors need lowering for my brother, who hits his head on the integral ceiling beams if he's not careful. It's all in the master-plan, I believe.

We drove up to see it for the first time today, and it is really going to be lovely when they have done it up.