Remember that schedule for Sunday about panicking about no one having enough clothes? Tick!
Well Davies and Scarlett anyway. Ady and I didn’t even get to our clothes but we are less arsed about being judged on our mud splatted clothing, I feel it just gives us an air of interesting eccentrics which is sort of the effect I will be aiming for anyway. The kids are equally un-arsed but I fret more about being judged as an unfit parent parading my children in too small jeans and wellies than I do about people just thinking I am a loon.
Yesterday was work for me in the morning. I had all sorts of new post office things such as selling mobile phone top ups, people paying their NI by cheque and paying cheques in to their bank account. An 88p stamp to send something to Berlin was a piece of cake in comparison! It was as usual very sociable though – Bad Neil, Mel, Emily, Norman, Mike & Debs, Steve, Claire and then Jinty and Ross coming in at the end along with Ady and Bonnie.
Some faffing about getting a copied dvd off Steve while I tried to hold Bonnie on a makeshift lead of bailer twiner and all our shopping in the freezing cold and got all cross and impatient and then home.
We had lunch and then Ady cleaned out the chicken house while I went to finish off tidying up the pig pen. I reeled all the excess fence onto my new reel, put a secondary fence (not wired up to the electric) along most of the fenceline and just enjoyed the feeling of being out working on the croft.
Then back in to make bread dough and pizza dough as we had Mike and Casey up for dinner. First time we’d seen Casey since she headed off in November so lovely to see her back. Mike has been back and forth a bit and I’d seen him at the shop on Thursday already. Casey was suffering from an ear infection and they had pledged not to drink but both ended up having a few beers anyway 🙂 We had pizza and Casey had brought up a collection of gifts including Out Of Africa which they said we
should watch, a hand made Christmas decoration, a very lovely scented candle, the promise of one of Mike’s amazing pictures still a work in progress and a game to play with us. Yes, a game.
We played it after dinner. Scarlett loved it and her and Casey won, Davies really enjoyed it and he and Mike came second. Ady and I bloody hated it (although we did a fine job of pretending) and came last. I feel just as tainted as that time I had lentils at the Not Swingers house. I hate games, they are not fun, you don’t get to be silly and I don’t want to concentrate on collecting cards or paper money or plastic pieces, or try and guess what other people’s next move might be. And I don’t want to worry about not knocking my wine over when I wave my hands about when I talk. The end.
But then we played Casey Charades and I cheered right up, I love that game. It has all the vital ingredients of silliness, being loud and waving arms about, in jokes, totally inappropriate behaviour and clues which have to be burned afterwards incase someone got hold of them 🙂 Adore it.
They left around 1am hoping to see the Northern Lights on their way home. They wouldn’t have done, I’ve been looking every ten minutes for the last 2 nights. They better bloody not appear next week while we’re down in Sussex *has scary premonition of most ironic and annoying possible scenario ever*.
Today was Sorting Out The Clothes Day. But first we all slept in. Our bedroom is baltic just now with a side order of condensation city, we’ve been going to bed fully clothed and still waking up shivering. It’s pants. I wanted it to be colder but actually it sucks at night. We have the terracotta pots and tealights things working but even that is not taking the edge off.
First Scarlett, every single item of clothing from her bedroom and a mammoth trying on session. Whittled a rather full wardrobe down to just about enough clothes suitable to take away, unpicked the ankle cuffs from a pair of trousers which just about make them acceptable and she wore a pair of tracksuit pants for two hours this afternoon in a gradual working her way up to wearing them properly process. Fortunately she is pretty good humored about her clothing foibles and mostly cheery about it. That done we have a large pile of clothes for material scraps and a bin liner full to take down to the village for the swap shop clothes bank area in the hall.
We broke for lunch then and Ady put on Navigator for them to watch. He and Davies watched it all, Scarlet dipped in and out, I worked on unpicking trouser cuffs and then emptied out the tops of the wardrobes in our bedroom. I gave up on packing for me as daylight was fading fast. Then Davies and I did his clothes, he is far less picky! So kids all packed up clothes-wise.
I’ve sorted out all the croft animal sitters with a group email laying out all details, all of them have replied to let me know when they are doing their shifts, we ran through Bonnie care with Mike and Casey last night and I’ve just emailed Lesley about dropping Humphrey down to her tomorrow. Scarlett and Ady cleaned him out today so he is all sawdust fresh and ready for a mini break too. I’m just waiting back on details on the car hire for Tuesday and final details for the actual weekend but they can arrive by email during the week anyway, I appreciate most people won’t be leaving home on Tuesday for an event starting on Friday! I’ve had a couple of emails from Lynda today so that all remains is the weather and Calmac working together to ensure the ferry is running on Tuesday.
I fed the animals, trial running the new dual location feeding with birds in one place and pigs in another to test out how it will work for animal sitters. It was all nice and smooth. Ady got dinner one. Several episides of the Good Life which is just so good for our souls and then a couple of Will & Grace before bed for children.
Tomorrow is proper packing up, Humphrey to the village, Vikki coming up for lunch and a pop down to the shop.
In the meantime I have stuff to say about houses and future plans and stuff but will have to get to that another time.