Scarlett woke up about 530am and came into our room half crying. She wasn’t really awake properly and snuggled down into our bed and promptly fell back to sleep again. I didn’t. After getting up to the loo and then lying there for about half an hour with my mind racing I gave in and got up. I sat in the kitchen with a cup of tea and a notepad and pen and my laptop trying to make some sense of a business plan and listened to the rest of the house wake up.
Finally by 830am Frazer and Cat had left, Dad and Ady had headed off and then Mum went off to work. I woke Davies and Scarlett and we all had breakfast and I made a loaf of bread for lunch. Scarlett and I watched some Attenborough documentaries and Davies did some animation station stuff including an excellent plasticine film. I spent ages wrangling with the car tax website before giving in and phoning and finding out the insurance I sorted out online and paid for on Monday night still wasn’t showing up on the database. So I rang the insurance company and they suggested I call in and collect the certificate in person and tax the car at the post office next door to them. This seemed reasonable but then I couldn’t find the MOT certificate. Finally (thanks Anni!) I rang the garage and they offered to print me off a duplicate.
I spent ages researching dairy goats and learnt lots about that before making lunch for the kids and I. We’d planned to walk into town as we all had eye tests this afternoon but Ady and Dad were not back in time so I decided driving Willow would be better and then we could swing by the garage and the insurance office to get all the paperwork. We stopped at the garage first, which involved driving past our house. When we used to visit Sussex from Manchester it always felt like someone was living in *my* house if we drove past. Today it just felt like the house I used to live in, the same as driving past our old house in Manchester felt last week. That is good as it makes me feel we are ready to leave there, I do have lots of emotional ties to that house but it’s not my home any more. We did spot at least three chickens though which is good as my Mum had been convinced there were none left there which I was expecting to deal with fall out from the kids over.
Next to town where we parked up and went to the optician. We all had eye tests and I had contact lens check too. Ady is fine, Scarlett is amazingly fine, the optician said her eyes are so good she doesn’t need to come back for 2 years. I have a slight improvement in my eyes so need to change my lens prescription to a lesser one and I needed new glasses which are free as we’re on tax credits. I’m sure the woman thought I was very strange when I just grabbed the first pair of cheap frames and said they’d do. I’ll only ever wear them last thing at night if I’ve taken my lenses out for some reason so what they look like is irrelevant. Davies however had a scar on his retina which the optician has given us a letter for our GP about so he can go to hospital to have it looked at or something. Ady had gone in with Davies and of course not asked the questions I would have done so I’ve googled a bit but it appears nothing to worry about at the moment. His vision was fine though.
We had a bit of a wander around town and then back to Willow and home via the insurance office and post office so my car is now taxed. Ady and Dad are going over to where it’s garaged tomorrow morning so fingers crossed they can get it started and we can use it again and retire Willow. Our friend Bruce, who has a large farm is happy to put her in a barn for us for a few months so that’s her over winter accommodation sorted 🙂
Back at home Ady and I nipped to Sainsburys for dinner ingredients and then I cooked. I updated Mum on all our social arrangements – can never work out if she is happy or sad when we are not going to be around. Ah well. I upset her by telling her off for picking about with her dinner, the sort of behaviour she would certainly have told one of the kids (well Scarlett, she *never* tells Davies off) for.
After dinner Ady and I did a bit of work on the business plan and then watched Frozen Planet. I sat with the kids for half an hour while they fell asleep and am hoping for a better nights sleep all round tonight.