Life

A cat and his dog. 

Last week Murphy was lying under the dining room table and jumped up when he heard Jinx bark. This was the result ....

We now have 4 broken windows. One when we bought the place, one as a result of a stone when Himself was whipper snipping the front, one when the kitchen reno was happening and now this one. The one that was here when we moved in has been made worse when a bird flew into it. Should I just smash the lot and get them all replaced?

I did some more weaving today with the extra yarn I bought yesterday. 

 It looks much better in the flesh, as I have mentioned before. The pops of colour are lovely. 

And that, my friends, is it from me tonight. I am dealing with some issues with Three and my mind is taken up with them. Kids. Do we ever stop worrying?

Tomorrow I may or may not get to post as I am catching up with Fave Sis in Law and then picking other brother up from hospital after he has a stent removed after a kidney stone removal (the stone had completely blocked the ureter and his kidney was blowing up with fluid hence the stent to drain the kidney). Fave sis in law doesn't drive and hospitals won't let you go home on or in public transport. I get twitchy when I don't post every day but I will never be in the exalted company of those who do  so I need to get over myself!

Oh ... I had my optometrist appointment today. I was convinced I needed a new script for my specs as I have been struggling to focus. My script is the same. The cataract in my right eye is worse and I have a new one in my left eye. I see the ophthalmologist in May.

Monday muddlings

 

I pinched this from facebook. It made me giggle and we need more of that in the face of the sadness in the world.

I saw the woman at the job provider. I was meant to see someone else (I have lost count of the number of people I have seen there over the past couple of years - the turnover is amazing) but she agreed to keep me under her as she knows what her notes mean. I no longer have to apply for jobs. I no longer have to see her; I will get messages reminding me of a meeting but she will mark me off, until, hopefully in the not too distant future, I disappear from their system.

Himself made a comment about how much money we are spending. I reminded him that he is always going to Bunnings and made a mental note to stop spending at the yarn store. I could probably never buy a skein of yarn again and still have plenty to leave in my will. I did go and buy the extra skein I needed to finish the weaving. And I did consider the next weaving project using some pretties they had there. Maybe I should sell some of my yarn. It would be a bit like selling your children but I guess some of the cheaper yarn could be considered less worthy of my love. Who am I kidding?

Himself is at the doctor as I write. Repeat scripts and a referral to the cardiologist for his annual review which is overdue because, you know, covid. 

His hearing is getting worse and while he acknowledges it he won't do anything about it. Like wear his hearing aids. Which he got in 2020 and has barely worn. If he goes to another company he will have to buy new ones and if he goes back to Costco he will have to buy another membership to see their audiologist. We went there in the first place because the daughter of a friend worked there but she has moved on to greener pastures. The set up is great and the hearing aids are top quality (fave sis in law used to be an audiologist and she knows these things). I think I need to wait until he feels that his quality of life is being affected - which it is but he hasn't admitted it yet.

Last night's dinner was delicious and I can't get over how good all the home grown veges tasted. Even the spuds. I will definitely grow them again but I need to find a better container.

I have booked a motel in Yass for the trip up and the Mermaid and I will stay in Bateman's Bay, Merimbula and Lakes' Entrance on the way back. Only a few hours drive between each place. The big challenge will be whether I am brave enough to tackle Sydney traffic to collect her from her mum's place on the northern beaches. Sydney drivers are maniacs and their roads are crazy. Their public transport is brilliant, though, I will give them that.

Right, off to look at accommodation for the trip home. They are all lovely beachside places and the schools have gone back so we should have a great time.

Centrelink must hate me

"I had an appointment with my job provider. When I got there I found that Centrelink had granted my medical exemption til the end of March at which time I will be old and can claim the age pension. This was after them sending me a letter - on paper, no less - saying my claim had been rejected. A wasted trip but a great outcome. I am now free of applying for jobs for ever unless I actually want one."

I posted the above on Monday 16th. When I got home I checked the relevant govt. site and sure enough, I was not required to submit proof of job searches.

This morning I got a text message reminding me of my appointment with my job provider tomorrow morning. I checked the relevant govt. site and just like that, I am back in the system required to apply for at least 5 jobs between 16/1 and 15/2. I whipped off 3 applications - it is all academic now as I will not be following up but I need to provide evidence to keep getting the unemployment benefit until I turn 66 and a half IN FIVE FUCKING WEEKS! Whereupon I will be eligible for the age pension.

This has turned my day on its head and ramped my anxiety up. It doesn't sound like much to those who haven't been in the system but it is almost paralysing. I don't like being on unemployment but there is no other option. I could apply for a disability pension but that takes months so is pointless. It is also nigh impossible to get these days. I have nursed cancer patients who were denied it because they might get better and they have tightened things up even more since then.

Yesterday I ran out of yarn for my weaving so I need to get down to the yarn shop quickly as they only had two skeins of it left on Tuesday. I will do that tomorrow. 

Part of the anxiety is due, I think, to feeling the pressure of the upcoming trip. I need to talk to the Mermaid to work out where we will stay and for how long. 

I am getting my eyes tested on Tuesday (just the overdue annual check-up) and will see if I can find a hairdresser to trim my shaggy locks. I am feeling like a badly groomed old English sheep dog.

Now I am going to have another look at potential stop overs on the way home and try to get some decisions made.

Then I will pick some beans and harvest some potatoes to have with the steak with a creamy mustard and cider vinegar sauce we are having for dinner. 

I must keep reminding myself of the quote at the top of my blog. Life just goes on.

If my life gets any slower it will be going backwards!

I have done very little today other than sit inside and weave. It is too hot to do anything else.

While I was weaving I got to thinking about words and phrases that annoy me.

One of my least liked phrases is "Sorry for your loss". It is up there with "Have a nice day" for insincere sounding fluff.

Surely if one knows the bereaved person one can say something with a bit more of a personal touch. If one is speaking with the bereaved in the course of one's employment then something along the lines of "I'm sorry to intrude at a time like this"

I know it is considered good manners but it is like fingernails on a blackboard to me! What is wrong with "I was so sorry to hear about ..." or "I am so sad to hear that ... has passed away" (passed and passed away are not high on my list of preferred phrases either but "died" is considered harsh by some). If you don't know the bereaved and have just been told then "I am sorry to hear that" should cover it.

This has been bugging me for a while. I think I have seen it said too many times on TV shows. Even on historical shows. 

I probably need to get a life. And watch some different shows.

What phrases give you the irrits* (to use a glorious Australian word)?

*irrits

/ˈɪrɪts/

noun

INFORMAL•AUSTRALIAN

1. feelings of extreme annoyance or irritation.

   "his constant criticizing gives me the irrits"

Another gentle day.

When it's hot and the aircon is on, what is a dog (and cat) to do? Why, lie on the couch and get full benefit.

I caught up with J at Karingal for brunch and a knit and natter. We were waiting on our peppermint tea when an alarm sounded and people started drifting out. We followed and then followed everyone back in. No sense of urgency. Many didn't leave. No spoken instructions with the alarm. It took me a while to realise it was an alarm and not some godawful modern music!

Supermarket shop and home. Himself was at the Shed for tech afternoon but came home early because too many people were talking over the guy running it. So we went to Bunnings because we have a garden bed full of newly sifted soil and we needed plants NOW!

We came home with two Ned Kelly grevilleas and another native the name of which escapes me. Bronze something or other.

Google to the rescue ... it is an Adenanthos Bronze Glow

And this is the Ned Kelly grevillea

I think they will look lovely in that bed and the birds love them. 

I didn't get any seedlings as I want to dig some dynamic lifter into the beds and have a good think about what to plant. I think the strawberries will have to go. They are choking everything and not producing fruit. Next year I will get a proper strawberry planter.

A tray of very expensive free range chicken fillets was reduced at Coles so I bought it and have made dinner for tonight (stuffed with red capsicum, sundried tomato pesto and feta cheese) and froze a couple with the same stuffing as well as two plain ones. Not bad. $17 for 6 fillets and these are so tender and delicious.

Tomorrow will be hot so I plan to stay inside and maybe work on the weaving. 

A quieter day

A pleasantly cooler day today. 

Himself has been sifting soil with his nifty soil sifter. This means I now have to decide what to put in the very large bed he is sifting the soil from. I doesn't get a lot of sun but I am thinking I might just throw flower seeds in it and see what grows. This will depend on digging dogs and an impatient husband who likes to see things yesterday.

Meanwhile I cleaned out my vege beds. The zucchini has gone as have the cucumbers cos I didn't like them. I have retained the basil and continental parsley and will consider more herbs in these beds. I have just realised I forgot to clean out the peas and my green bin is full! I wonder if I can squeeze just a bit more in before they will refuse to take it. I will plant lettuces where the peas are as it doesn't get full sun and see what seedlings bunnings has on Saturday to decide what veges and herbs to plant next. 

I also pulled out the petunias which were getting a bit ragged and will put some marigolds in for some autumn colour.

The roses got a prune. I will cut them back hard come winter and see whether they are happier next year. I really don't want to have to redo that bed.

My trip to Junee has been postponed til after Himself has his op (he is having a TURP for those who are interested. It's a rebore for enlarged prostates).

The mermaid is coming with me on the trip to Sydney and I will drop her off at a station on the way to Two's place and she can visit her recently widowed mum. She will then make her way to Gosford and she and I will drive home down the coast. Her daughter has turned into Bridezilla and that is also causing her angst. A mini break will be good for us both.

I got some weaving done this afternoon. It really does make the time go fast - weaving and listening to podcasts. I am kicking myself that I didn't really think about this yarn before I warped the loom. It has knobbly bits which are making it a challenge to get through the heddle without shredding it. Silly me.

This is the yarn but the colours are much prettier in the flesh.

We then played scrabble. With 5 days left in the month we are neck and neck. 

Dinner is Greek Turkey burgers with a harissa yoghurt dressing. I had a giggle at the recipe seeing how little love is lost between the Greeks and Turkey!

Normality should return after today.

The kids arrived at 8.30 for the final visit these holidays. It's a shame that Sally and Lily didn't get to play together again but HFM is too contagious to take the risk. I am concerned that Sally will get it as she kept forgetting and gave Alice lots of hugs. Apart from the HFM lesions, Alice is also teething so is basically a mess of virus filled slobber.

Kids. Who'd have them?

Alice enjoyed peanut butter on toast for breakfast and Max discovered he quite liked it, too.

After a play with noisy banging toys Himself took Sally and the for a walk and I walked Alice up to our local park. Look at those gorgeous little toes.

She soon conked out and slept for an hour and a half.

Lunch, more play, many bum changes and all with constant supervision of one dog or the other.

Sally wanted to bake so Granny took the cheat's way and got Grumpy to pick up a packet mix (don't know why I bothered - I still had to add eggs, milk and butter!) and she made cupcakes. The best part is licking the beaters and the bowl.

Amy arrived just in time to catch a spectacular spew from Alice which she cleaned up. My clock was off!

Tomorrow is a public holiday. I wonder if it will be the last Australia Day holiday we will have. I have written and deleted too many words over this as I feel my sentiments are not those of many and I really can't be bothered defending my opinion. It is too easy to be branded a racist these days.

 

The sound of silence

You may remember (although I don't see why you should) that before Christmas Himself bought me a pair of fancy Sennheiser headphones. 

They are so fancy I was able to have a phone conversation with Two while I was wearing them because they have a microphone in them. I didn't realise that he was hearing me through them until he kindly explained. 

I wear them every night when I watch TV in the same room as Himself faffs around on his computer. We are a loving couple. As we sit there in the same room with our respective headphones on we send text messages and emails to one another. 

I have just watched "Jack Irish" - a really good Australian show with some excellent actors including Guy Pearce - and was taken with the theme tune. There are three seasons of this series and I watched every episode and for more than half of them I used the soundhound app on my phone to identify the music used as the theme.

Every time it was unable to find it.

Last night as I watched the final episode in the final series I realised I was listening through my headphones and asking soundhound to identify .... silence!

If you're interested this is the theme ...

Am I the only one who does things like this? 

Kids are exhausting

The girls were dropped off at 8.30 this morning. Poor wee Alice looks terrible with her rash (which has been confirmed as hand, foot and mouth disease). Sally was also subdued which was probably tiredness. After breakfast and a bit of a play I took them up to the park. Sally raced around and Alice slept.

A visit to the shop (which seems to have become the norm) and home. 

I was trying to have a phone conversation with my friend in Junee when Alice woke and Himself's idea of "can you please look after her" involved bring the pram indoors then plonking her in the highchair.

Lunch for them both then more play when Himself, who had promised to help me when we agreed to take them both, decided to go to the Shed to cut timber and then proceeded to build a fancy soil sieve in the garage. It is a very impressive soil sieve and under normal circumstances I would have been full of praise but leaving me to wrangle a 6 year old who wanted to paint (at least he got the red paint out of the rug) and a 15 month old who likes to climb on anything and everything left the enthusiasm a bit depleted.

They were collected and Alice was taken to the doctor (for the above confirmation) and I was able to chat with Ms Junee. It was lovely to catch up after so many years and we are making plans for when I am there next month.

I then rang the aunt back because she rang when the Mermaid was here yesterday. Centrelink say she has a bank account with $8000 in it but she has no idea what or where it is. Her friend was there going through all her papers looking for some clue and they will try to talk to someone at the bank but they will be in the Philippines and I know how that will go. 

While I was trying to get off the phone from her the Mermaid rang Himself's phone (he was out watering the garden/having a beer) so I rang her back. She was trying to book accommodation for her daughter's wedding in September. The venue is full. The daughter hasn't booked her accommodation yet so I see dramatics in the near future as the actual wedding is being held a 15 minute walk from the planned accommodation and there is nothing else around.

I popped a frittata in the oven when I rang the aunt but forgot to put the timer on. 

Caught it just in time.

I am catching up with J and C at our favourite yarn shop tomorrow and lunch at our favourite cafe. I think I deserve it!

Tiddly pom

The mermaid came for lunch.

We had a wonderful time and much wine was consumed. 

She has not long gone (with far less wine under her belt).

Himself and I are playing scrabble.  He has to be the counterer as I can't see my toes to count.

Tomorrow we have Sally AND Alice. I might regret my over indulgence in the morning but right now I am wallowing in the blessedness of a day spent with a really good friend.

I leave you with these shots from last night.  Same window. No filters. Just a bit of time difference. 

 

The future is here and it is scary

Himself goes to a tech group at the Shed on Friday afternoons. They look at new stuff that's out there and learn new programs. Recently he learnt how to use a free product that colourises old black and white photos. Really good for a freebie.

Yesterday they looked at a new Google product that uses AI to write speeches or academic papers. This scares me witless. Plagiarism has always been an issue at tertiary institutions as has the practice of paying others to write your papers. There is software out there that can look for plagiarism so that issue is sort of in hand. Using others to write for you? Not sure what is happening there. But they are both banned and can result in fail grades.

Using AI to write? This is a whole new ballgame. I asked Himself to give me 1000 words on the management of VRSA in an oncology environment. You can't do a lot in 1000 words but what I got was accurate and would have been perfectly acceptable at a first year nursing level. And it was referenced. How would the academic marking the paper know who it was written by? If you ask the same question again and again you get a different paper each time. 

What concerns me is what will happen if this is our future. How will we know that our doctors, teachers, nurses, paramedics, lawyers, accountants etc have actually studied the course and written the papers they are graded on?

This is still in the works and those who are playing with it are contributing to the ongoing development but what I saw yesterday was enough to raise concerns.

On a completely different note ...

Do you have a song that you really like but your partner can't stand? Or vice versa?

I like this and Himself will leave the room if it comes on or switch the station if we're in the car!

A day trip

I went to visit Dr and Mrs Teacher at their new property.

This is the map of my journey ...

This is the road heading up to the turn off to their place. To be honest it was in better condition than the highway leading down which was pitted with potholes.

The driveway ..

Views from their place...

The front of their house

with pond

The view of Wilson's Prom ...

The mountain range behind them which one drives through to get there

The house was built about 30 years ago and they bought it from the original owners who actually built it with stone quarried from the land.

The view from the balcony as we were having lunch.

And the drive back home.

South Gippsland is my absolute favourite part of the world and I would live there in a heartbeat.

Several things stop me ...

1. Cost ... property values have gone through the roof with people leaving the city during Covid.
2. The distance from the kids
3. Snakes.
4. Getting older and the distance from essential amenities.
5. Snakes
6. Snakes 
7. Snakes

Yes I am a wuss. Give me the largest spider known to man and I will deal with it (nicely). But anything that is legless (and I don't mean having had too much to drink) and I freak out. In fact I would prefer a snake over a worm. This is definitely a story for another day!

I had a lovely drive on my own and am now more confident about the trip north.

 

Another question for you

I have nothing today.

So I will pose a question.

Background...

a past captain of the Australian cricket team was filmed having a very heated altercation with his (now ex?) girlfriend. He had been playing away, so to speak, and was found out.

All this is bad enough.

During the fracas she slapped him three times across the face.

The media is full of him apologising etc etc. To be honest I couldn't care less.

Except for this.

SHE slapped HIM three times across the face.

If the report was HE slapped HER he would be in custody by now and all the hounds of hell would be brought down upon him.

Surely when SOMEONE slaps ANYONE across the face it is assault - and in this case would be domestic violence.

Domestic violence is wrong. It needs to be stamped out. Society abhors it and rightly so. Until the perpetrator is female and then it is the bloke's fault.

I feel something is amiss here.

What say you?

Questions

Sally was dropped off at 8.30 this morning. Time to wolf down a bowl of nutrigrain (how can kids talk and eat at the same time?) and then off to the first of her two day dance intensive. She was over the moon with excitement, coupled with lack of sleep because last night was hot and muggy and I am glad I didn't have to deal with her! 

As part of the dance thing they decorated cup cakes. I don't know, either. She came home covered in chocolate frosting so her tights and leotard are in the dryer as I write.

She is still full of energy even though she barely ate anything in her lunch box. She had some of her lunch sandwich (Granny put her foot down) and the cupcake she decorated when she got home. Dinner will be interesting as we are having taco mince with corn chips but I don't use a packet taco mix. I also put capsicum in mine. I can see her eating corn chips and cheese but I don't mind.

I then got the questions. I will share so we can all contemplate the complexities of the universe.

• Where does the air come from?
• Why is water slippery?
• Why is glass fragile?
• Why is the inside of the window dirtier than the outside? (this one I could answer - sticky fingers and snotty dogs - and a Granny who can't be arsed cleaning the damn things)
• What is the point of space?

As John Grey says, answers on the back of a postcard please.

Which reminds me, do you remember the days when radio and TV stations would run competitions and you had to write the answer on the back of the envelope? They wouldn't open the envelope. And if you wanted a fact sheet from a DIY or gardening programme (remember them? - fact sheets, not the programmes) you had to send in a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Two and his brothers used to watch some kids' programme on Saturday mornings. Unbeknownst to me he had entered a competition to win a Super Nintendo. The next Saturday I was greeted with cries of "Mum, Mum, I won". Sure you did, darling, I responded, but you have to enter these things to win them. "I did, Mum, I did". "Yes, Mum, he did". I must ask him how he managed to post that envelope as I'm sure it wasn't a phone competition. They were still to come.

Speaking of Two. He is testing strongly positive for Covid which is a worry with wee Henry but they had the appointment with the paediatric ENT dude who assured them that as long as he is feeding, gaining weight, sleeping and is happy (all of which he is) there is nothing to worry about and he will grow out of his noisy breathing. 

Three just rang. They have been having ongoing issues with a water leak that resulted in their water usage going through the roof, to the point that SE water contacted them alerting them to the excess usage. The landlord/estate agent have refused to compensate them for the excess water bill which they are obliged to do under the tenancy act plus they took way too long to address the problem in the first place, which resulted in the excess water usage. The leak has been fixed and they have the plumber's report saying there was a leak that resulted in water loss. Guess who's going to VCAT?

*for overseas/interstate people South East Water is the body that supplies and manages our water and sewerage and VCAT is the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which is responsible for dealing with these issues. They can be a toothless tiger but in this instance, with the tenancy act so obviously ignored, Three et al stand a chance of a resolution in their favour. 

I am now going to pour a gin and ponder what exactly is the point of space.

PJ day

Yup. I have spent the day in my pyjamas. They are very comfy Qantas business class pyjamas Two got for me. 

So needless to say I have not done much today. Planned some more menus and played a couple of games of scrabble, basically. And continued with my knitting of one of the colour work jumpers which I do when playing scrabble. Socks are for telly watching.

Speaking of which I watched The Witcher and found it quite good. I have started watching fantasy type shows of late. Probably because Netflix saw I watched Merlin and it all went south from there!

My friend in Junee has broken her wrist and had it pinned today so I won't be staying with them when I go north. I shall probably just stay overnight up and back in Wagga Wagga. Or maybe even Gundagai. I'll see how she feels in the next few days and if she is up to a visit but not a visitor I can stay in Junee's motel.

I am rather flat today - it has been hot again with a cool change forecast overnight so the barometer is dropping.

Time to make dinner. A warm chicken salad with avocado. The chicken is wrapped in prosciutto and baked in the oven then sliced over the salad. Easy peasy lemon squeasy.

Later ... dinner was delicious and the rains are here with lightning and thunder. Bliss!

It is not the speaker who offends but the listener who takes offence.

Sally was dropped off at 8.30. 

Amy was telling me that yesterday they went to the Moonlight Sanctuary which is a place where you can go and see native animals and feed the wallabies etc. The wallabies and roos are behind a fence and you can feed the through the wires. More a suggestion than an actual fence and to keep the public out I am guessing. Anyway, they purchased the roo food and went to feed them. Every time a wallaby (or as Three called them when he was young, Wabballies) came near adults (of the human kind) came racing over and pushed Sally and other kids out of the way so they and their families could feed the animal. They were, without exception, a certain ethnicity and I was trying to explain to Sally that they weren't deliberately trying to hurt her feelings but some cultures do things differently. A difficult discussion to have as there is a sense of entitlement among some of these people and they do look down on those of us who are different from them. I must say I am getting sick of hearing about how racist white Australians are when the coin can just as easily be flipped the other way. No doubt that will be an unpopular opinion. 

I had an appointment with my job provider. When I got there I found that Centrelink had granted my medical exemption til the end of March at which time I will be old and can claim the age pension. This was after them sending me a letter - on paper, no less - saying my claim had been rejected. A wasted trip but a great outcome. I am now free of applying for jobs for ever unless I actually want one. 

A huge load lifted.

Grumpy took Sally to the park while I was gone and when I got home she wanted to go to the shop. Silly Grumpy should have taken her while I was out and she would have got an ice cream. Granny got her the ice cream AND a tub of lollies AND a whistle lollipop. Grumpy and Granny got an ice cream as well.

We played a game of scrabble and I managed to inhale the vinegar from the cocktail onions. We have cheese, pickled stuff and berries as our scrabble nibbles instead of crap. I swear my airway spasmed shut. I couldn't breathe. It was terrifying. I forced myself to breathe out and could so kept telling myself I would be ok. A glass of cold water and lots of coughing and wheezing and I was able to take a breath in. Not a deep one, but a breath nonetheless. I have never been so frightened in my life. I had a glimpse of what it must be like to suffocate or drown and it just emphasises that this is my least favourite way to die.

What is your preferred way of shuffling off the mortal coils?

Feeling a bit more human

The dogs started hassling us. Himself grumbled "alright, alright, I'll get up" which usually means I get up. I don't mind as it's usually around 8am at this stage (yes we sleep late). It was 11! 

He finally surfaced at 1.15. I think we were both very sleep deprived. 

Needless to say not a lot has been achieved today. I did water the very thirsty garden. The last couple of days have been terribly hot but today is much cooler. The pumpkin plant has gone ballistic! The zucchini is still producing. The strawberry plants are trying to take over the vege pod. The beans are struggling. The tomatoes are starting to ripen. The two remaining potato tubs should have nicely growing spuds in them. I did harvest some for dinner the other night. I had a teeny tiny one to taste and it was very nice. It would have been better if it had been a large bowl smothered in melted butter and chopped chives but I need to shift this weight so that will be a treat for another time.

I dumped another kilo this week taking it to 3.9 kilos in two weeks. 

We went to the supermarket. Himself flinches at the checkout but I keep reminding him it is two or three times a week and not every day.  And we bought things like Lady Grey teabags and olive oil which were half price but still costly. And a large box of nutrigrain for Sally's breakfast on Thursday - she can take the rest home which helps them a little bit. I must say, the Twinings tea bags at half price are not far short of what full price used to be not that far back in the past. I really do feel for those struggling financially. First and foremost Three and his lot. And as he rightly points out, if you are financially strapped all the cost saving measures like buying in bulk don't work because you don't have the money to spend on bulk in the first place so you are forced to pay what can afford which works out to be more in the long run. Add greedy landlords (or more to the point, greedy real estate agents who encourage landlords to up the rent) and life and the future are rather grim.

On that cheerful note I shall go and set up for scrabble. Sally is being dropped off at 8.30 tomorrow morning. Thank god I slept in today!

My new favourite word courtesy of Lily. The things you read to work out how to build something? Constructions.

You're welcome.

Send gin

Well, that was an experience I don't want to repeat any time soon.

They played relatively well together. One thing I learned about little girls is that they can be in floods of tears one minute because we didn't like what the other person said and then they are best friends the next.

Dinner, bath, pjs and bed went smoothly. Silly Granny was lulled into a false sense of security. 

It was a hot night, I will give them that. Lily wanted the light on. Sally did not. Lily touched Sally. Sally touched Lily. I put a small pillow between them but that didn't work because now they wanted to cuddle each other. Both girls had melt downs and missed their mummy, daddy and sister. And dog. And cats. And other grandparents. These meltdowns were not simultaneous. Oh no. Finally at around midnight I decided that I would sleep with Lily and Sally could sleep in our bed with Grumpy.

Half an hour later I had been kicked out of a queen sized bed by a sleeping 5 year old.

Himself kindly said he would sleep on the couch and I could sleep with Sally. We had to keep the dogs away from the bedrooms because Jinx had taken a liking to Lily's teddy - another source of angst - and the cats were on my side of the door because their food and shitty litter is in our bathroom. I lay awake listening for Lily and could not drop off to sleep. Just as I was about to head into the land of nod Max decided that he missed his canine brothers and yowled the house down pacing up and down the corridor outside where Lily was sleeping.

The last time I checked the clock it was just gone 3am. Sleep had eluded me. I tossed and turned and finally fell asleep to be woken just after 6 by Lily who had had enough and was ready to get up and get going.

Poor Grumpy had slept on the couch the dogs use (the 'good' one was too short for him) and his allergies flared up overnight.

Sally was up about an hour after Lily and they played and argued until 9 when One arrived, followed shortly after by Three. Himself had gone off to bed and slept until mid morning. 

Three came back around lunch time to start going through Himself's parents' photos and papers. He has an interest in his history and his mother in law studies genealogy so she can point him in the right direction.

The photos date back to the late 1800s and there are some really interesting ones of my mother in law's family and we could trace a lot through the war to when they arrived in the UK. Father in law's stuff only starts during the war.

This was when Three going through some very old documents from Germany during the war using Google translate to work out what they were. It seems like a lot were extracts of births, deaths and marriages which MIL's mother probably procured to prove they were legit. Although they were from Poland there were at some time or another under German occupation hence the Germans being able to proved the documentation going back three generations. Three will research more. It will be interesting to see what he finds.

It was made all the more special using this to look at tiny photos taken during the war to identify people. It was in with their papers and I reckon could tell a story or two.

Three has now gone home and I am going to set up the scrabble board. To hell with the diet - I am going to have cheese and biscuits and a decent chardonnay tonight. I think I deserve it.

Cousins

Amy went back to work today so we had agreed to have Sally. She will stay over as they are going to see Elton John tonight  Alice will stay with the other grandparents and Three and Amy will stay the night there as well.

I invited Lily over for a play with Sally (I HATE the term play-date).

Sally arrived in her pyjamas. Lily arrived in a purple frilly dress.

They played a bit, watched a bit of Matilda and then Grumpy bought them a happy meal each for lunch. They were both adamant they wanted the 6 nugget pack. The dogs will be happy.

After lunch they played with a colour your own unicorn money box kit I bought them and a Bluey sticker kit. No wonder the supermarket bill was high this week!

They then went outside to draw on the pavement with chalk. I had to stay and supervise in case the big black bug came back. Country girls these most definitely are NOT!

After some cartwheels they came inside and got changed. Lily in yet another frilly dress (that was making her itchy) and Sally into day clothes (finally!). They then started to play with the very limited number of toys I have. I need to get to Ikea to get more train tracks.

Lily wants to sleepover as well so her Mum will drop the necessaries over later. They will share a queen size bed. Sally was so excited they could stay up all night. She later amended that to midnight. I have news for news for both of them!

After watching half of another movie they announced the wanted to go to the park.

So we did.

You may note the girls have changed again. Fortunately Lily only came with one change of clothes. 

After a while Sally asked if I had any lollies (sweets/candy) at home. I said I didn't but we could go to the shop. They said they were hot. I said we could buy icecreams.

So we did - even Granny as it was so damned hot.

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And then she had a large gin.

You will get the full details of the sleepover tomorrow. If I do not post, send help. Or more gin.