Busy, busy, busy….

Yesterday was one of those days…. you know, when you are busy from end to end!!

Last week, the care home had phoned to tell me that Mum’s dentures had developed a crack in them and would need a repair. So, off I went, first thing in the morning, to winkle them out of Mum’s mouth and take them over to the dental laboratory.

Bless her, Mum wasn’t keen. The care worker tried and failed to get Mum to take her teeth out. Resolutely refused. “You’ll have to have a go,” said the care worker ruefully. “She won’t do it for me.” Right.

It took some cajoling, flattery, hugs, laughs and threats but eventually, out they came and I was able to get them to the repairers. “I’ll bring them back soon,” I said. “Well, make sure you do,” said Mum, grinning goofily.

I popped back home and got on with a few jobs. One in particular, was the establishing of whether we had all the ingredients necessary for the Christmas Cake. A little late in the making, I know, but better late than never, eh?

And here’s the rub. The local Co-op has had a change round. Modernised, don’t you know. Ha! I say again – Ha! What an absolute joke. The store no longer stocks what I would call ‘family food’. I may have mentioned this before……. sorry to bore you with it. But did it have any glace cherries, or mixed peel, or currants, or raisins? No! Of course it didn’t.

I popped along to Oakes’ where I was able to source some mixed peel; I rummaged in my cupboards and managed to source most of the rest. There may be fewer currants than the recipe calls for and a few more sultanas, but hey-ho.

I started the mix-up of the cake and then realised that I wasn’t going to get it into the oven before I had to go back and collect Mum’s teeth, so I abandoned it half-way through. Who knows? It might taste better for having rested? We’ll see.

Dentures successfully collected and a return to the care home to pop them back in Mum’s mouth. She was delighted to have a full set of gnashers back in.

Regrettably though, she was confused. She wasn’t too sure who I was but knew she knew me somehow. She wasn’t sure where she was going; where the bathroom was; where her clothes were and initially, refused to change the clothes that were a bit grubby. Almost every touch resulted in a yelp. “Ow! You’re hurting me!” she cried, as I dried her hands after their wash.

I felt saddened by her loss of memory. The care worker had asked me to note down her likes and dislikes, who was important to her and so on. She couldn’t think who was important to her, but agreed when I suggested it might be me and Graham. She rolled around in her mind for a long time where Graham might be. She couldn’t remember that he was in Australia at all. But, on the plus side, she is not unhappy, so that makes it feel a bit better.

The cake was finally mixed and cooked by 9.30 at night; cooled on the wire rack by 10.30 and….. oh, where are my tins? I had round ones and tall ones but no square ones. In the end, I wrapped it all up in foil and thought I’d check with the kids if I’d given them out previously with goodies in. Eeeh, I can’t remember anything either!!!

And how about today? Another busy day but one which was wonderful. A marvellous morning at Freddie’s Nativity Play in which he played Joseph. He was so gorgeous, playing his part very well. Here he is, thrilled I’d gone to watch and pleased as punch with his performance.

A visit to the hairdresser’s later and a session of wrapping Christmas presents while John wrote Christmas cards, before we both collapsed in a heap to watch the footie this evening. There’s clearly no peace for the wicked!!

In other news, it’s been a very busy day for Christiana, too. Baby number two made his appearance this afternoon! So thrilled for her and Mike, who couldn’t be there unfortunately, because he’d tested positive for COVID. So disappointing, but it won’t be long before they are reunited, I am sure. Gloria stepped into the breach and supported Christiana, which must have been a relief for her. It’s always nice to have someone’s hand to hold, isn’t it?

Here’s to new life and hope.

Take care everyone. God bless.