Packing it all in

We’re not ‘packing it all in’ as in giving up – don’t get the wrong idea – but we’re packing a lot of life in and haven’t half packed a lot in today.

John was up and about quite early this morning, raring to go and get in the garage. He was just finishing his coffee in the kitchen when I got back from yoga just before eleven o’clock. “How was yoga?” he asked. “Agony!” I replied. In the last year or so, I’ve found that all my joints, all my muscles and all my tendons are as dry as dry and creak like Billy-o the minute I do any movement. You can even hear the blooming things graunching……

Anyway, I discovered that daily collagen tablets have eased the symptoms amazingly well, so generally, I can leap about and bend and stretch, and so on, with little difficulty. But….. for the last couple of weeks I have been intermittent in the taking of the tablets, having got a little bit out of routine. Hence the graunching of everything at yoga today. I managed to keep up mostly, but whenever Jaime suggested we might like to bend just a bit further, raise the leg a bit higher, hold the pose a little longer, or ‘chaturanga’ into an ‘up-dog‘, I baulked at the invitation. Maybe next week? Must keep taking the tablets.

Meanwhile, John took himself off into the garage and I nipped across to our marvellous village seamstress, Donna, to collect some trousers that she had turned up for Mum. Stayed and had a little chat and then moseyed up to the pharmacy to collect my prescription before making my way home to continue with some washing and a few more of the chores I’d started yesterday.

We were both beavering away at our little jobs, contented as can be, when John came into the kitchen and said, “See that?” I nodded. It was a stay for the Lotus car door. “See? The bolt to attach it to the car itself rattles around in the hole. There should be a metal bush……. but it’s missing.” Ah….. a rummage among all the spare parts he’s got in trays and boxes everywhere proved fruitless. No appropriate bush. And there we are – another day when hours will be spent on the internet trying to find the right thing, sending away for it, waiting for it to arrive and keeping fingers crossed that it’s the right one when it does!!!

We went over to Pete and Dawn’s this afternoon for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. That was lovely. Relaxing and stimulating at the same time. Marvellous to be with friends who know us so well that the conversation just flows. John told the tale of the bush-less stay. Pete said he’d got lots of spare parts in his garage, too. They agreed that, on Sunday when John goes there for lunch, he’ll spend a happy hour rummaging through Pete’s trays and boxes. Fingers crossed he finds something suitable – it would save hours of research.

We left Pete and Dawn’s just before tea-time, having promised to pop over to the Kenilworth Newbies to hear all about their week with Danielle’s parents and to help out as best we could. They continue to be exhausted. Three boys….. gosh, I know what that’s like. There is nothing like that particular fatigue of caring for children and holding down a decent job, is there?

We cooked tea and stayed until it was time to put the boys to bed. I had the pleasure of reading William a couple of bedtime stories before he settled down. “Pat me?” he said, hopefully. “Yes, I’ll pat you,” I replied. “And sing a lullaby…..?” he continued. So we went through my repertoire of lullabies and nursery rhymes and then, when those were exhausted, William offered more suggestions of his own. Oh, bliss.

Meanwhile, over in the other Kenilworth Sleath household, I believe that the Tooth Fairy may be called upon again, very soon. Harriet sent us a photo of Freddie this afternoon, his upper tooth having migrated into the gap left by the falling out of his other tooth yesterday. He is impersonating Worzel Gummidge, by Paul’s account…….I agree and it made me chuckle. Bless him – he’s definitely thrilled with his wobbly teeth!. What do you think? Remind you of Worzel Gummidge with the central tooth, the rosy cheeks and the dishevelled hair? Tee-hee! Gorgeous.

When we got home after our visit to Kenilworth, I ran out into the garden to collect in the washing. The once-dry washing was now rather wet as a result of the shower in progress. Booooo…….I spent a little while sorting it out onto the clothes horse and then remembered, with a sinking feeling, that I’d taken the sheets off the bed earlier in the day and had yet to put clean ones on…… Well, there was little job I didn’t particularly want to do at the end of the day. Another Booooo…… ah, well…. but I do like to get into bed with nice, clean (ironed) sheets, don’t you?

Take care everyone. God bless.