We have a list of the tedious, picking a life back up again stuff we need to plough through in the next couple of weeks, so today we made a start on crossing some of the list off.
First we unpacked more of the van – we now only have a few things left to bring in which we should get done tomorrow and then Willow is empty. She is taxed until the end of the month and hopefully Ady has a friend who can spare the space to store her off road for us until the spring when we will make further plans for her future.
The kids and I went through all their clothes – the ones they have had with them all year and the very small piles we’d put into storage. They both have plenty of tops but are very short on jeans and neither has anything remotely smart. I can’t really think the lack of smart will be an issue but we will have to find more jeans for them both. Ady is also desperate for jeans so charity shops are on our list of places to visit in the next few weeks.
We had some lunch and I ticked a couple of emails off my list including one thanking the women who showed us round on Rum last week. I had a speedy reply back from them thanking us for coming and saying to get in touch if they could assist with any part of the application. I also sent them the WW blog address at their request.
Davies was suffering last night with some sort of allergic reaction to something in my parents house which had worsened this morning. He wakes up snotty and sneezy most mornings and has done for years, sometimes worse than others depending on time of year and where we happen to be but never serious enough for us to look into it any further but this morning his eyes were swollen and his throat was tight so I have him some antihistimines which brought down both but he continued to look really pale and be all snotty, going rapidly downhill over the course of the afternoon.
We walked down to the town – about 2 miles, then all around town then back so a good 5 mile walk altogether. I walked part of the way with Davies, part with Scarlett, part with Ady and part with all four of us together talking, so had a very interesting variety of conversations. Davies and I continued a chat we’d had yesterday about welfare state, anarchy and what he’d spend money on if he were in charge of taxes, discussed how you can use tone of voice to change the meaning of words and how you would write that down to get across in a story. Scarlett and I talked about when I was a little girl her age, I shared a story that one of the roads we walked down was supposed to be haunted by a dog ghost and we discussed the beauty of remote Scotland versus the very limited charm of a busy town centre. Ady and I talked about supermarkets, retail and whether the people who think we are mad are actually madder or not! Sort of insanity top trumps 😆
In town we had a deeply unsuccessful trip which was at least cheap I guess. We got Scarlett some new pants, picked up a copy of Matilda on VHS for 25p in a charity shop as the kids had seen the beginning of the film twice but not the ending and were keen to see if all having had the book read to them not that long ago. I also bought everyone some sweets but I got myself cola sours which were so sour I actually had to spit it out when I had one so I gave them to Scarlett. We called in to see my Mum at work which delighted her as she got to gush all over us infront of her staff :). Davies was going downhill and I even offered to ring my Dad to come and collect him so he didn’t have to walk home but he insisted he wanted to. As a final blow the library was closed for installation of self service machines so we couldn’t nip in and collect the book that is on the shelf there that I wanted to help with the business plan, so I’ve now ordered that to arrive at Lancing instead. If we don’t get over there before we have the dentist next week so can pop in then.
We walked home again, pausing to stop at the war memorial and read all the poppy wreath labels from yesterday. We arrived home at exactly the same time as Frazer, pulling up after work just as we walked past the house. The kids watched films in their room until dinner having been utterly worn out by the walk and several late nights.
Ady and I made up Scarlett’s bed as she’d slept on a mattress on the floor the last couple of nights. It looks much better in the room with two beds now 🙂 I did some more ticking things off my job list and insured the Sharan and tried to tax it – the insurance clearly hadn’t registed yet though so I’ll need to do that tomorrow and then we can go and get it.
We had dinner and then Ady and I popped up to Sainsburys to get Davies some medised as he was running a temperature and feeling rough. He took that and fell asleep although he was pretty restless so I’m not convinced he’ll sleep through – hopefully he doesn’t wake confused as to where he us as I may not hear him all the way upstairs. I sat with Scarlett as she fell asleep – she seems slightly unsettled by being here but she gets the brunt of my Mum being stroppy as Davies is so clearly her favourite. Scarlett is also more aware of me getting pissed off at times I think which makes her uneasy. We’re talking lots about what makes it hard to stay here though so hopefully we can make it work.
Tomorrow Ady’s off with my Dad in the morning to work for a couple of hours. I’m planning on making a Christmas cake with the kids and hoping Davies wakes feeling better.