A rambly post today as I have been busy and not reading busy over the last few days. That sentence is horribly ungrammatical but no matter.
Last week and this week and next week are going to be a tad frantic as it is half term and my turn to go to Ealing for childcare and it has been Florence's birthday so all family orientated and I am not complaining. Cannot believe Florence is five, I so remember the day she was born and when Helen called me in the morning and I heard this little snuffling down the phone and Helen said 'this is your granddaughter Mum'. Tears then and tears now just thinking about it. I also remember that day for another reason. My lovely friend Sue who died so tragically a few years ago, was so happy for me (she had been a grandmother for six months) and on receipt of my news she was around my flat in half an hour with armfuls of daffodils for me. I miss her and wish I could share my grandchildren with her.
We had celebrations last week with the birthday cake I baked for Florence, she had already had a party the previous weekend but we lit the candles on my cake actually on the day and it was lovely. Florence loves the Sound of Music and requested a cake reflecting that so Helen laboured away and came up with this:
and then I followed up with this:
so Florence did well.
At the weekend the family went to Orford and I nipped over to meet them at The Maltings, Snape for tea and then to babysit so that mum and dad could go out for a belated Valentine Day meal. Beatrice yelled the place down when she saw her mother go out the door but when they had gone and I told her to pack it in, she smiled at me seraphically. She is a little madam that one. I put them both down to sleep in my bed and after a song or two and a read of a book they went to sleep though Florence went off first and Beatrice tried to hang it out as long as possible before she finally keeled over. I just sat there with them both cuddled up to me and thinking, not for the first time, how much I love them and how blessed I am.
Left early the next morning to get home to have a good rest as I am off again to London today (I am getting quite fond of the North Circular), and drove through the Tunstall Forest in a misty pearly morning. Deserted road and I poodled along looking for a place to park up so I could take some photos. I was then joined by another car who tailgated me along twists and turns and it really annoyed me. Why? In the end I pulled over and let him roar past and then got out and took some photos. Quite magical.
Then home and put my feet up for half an hour. HAH! Woke up three hours later.
So today off to London again and will be looking after Florence for a few days. I was thinking of taking my laptop with me but know full well that I probably won't have time to do anything so any thoughts, literary or otherwise, will have to wait until the weekend.
I was going to write about Wolf Hall (wonderful); Broadchurch (dire) and the Great British Sewing Bee (delightful) but that will have to wait.
And this Saturday is my birthday and I will be heading off in the direction of Orford/Snape/Aldburgh again to spend the day with a good friend. Good times all round.
Au Reservoir...
