Back to Normality

The aliens have returned my mother. Damn them.

At 6am she woke me up to tell me she wouldn't be going to 'that place' because she didn't want to sit in a room with old ladies. This is not open to negotiation but we do have to wait for a place so there's time yet to bludgeon her into going.

I am convinced that the problem is fear. She is being asked to attend something new, on her own, for the first time since Dad died. They really did do everything together so this will be a first for her and it's a biggie. She keeps saying that I can/will go with her and this morning she said something very telling 'I looked around and didn't see anyone I know'. I do believe that once she has been a couple of times it will become something she looks forward to and it is also, in my opinion, something she needs to do. By that I mean meeting new people, many of whom are in very similar circumstances to her, and getting out of the house with some small measure of independence. And at the risk of sounding horribly selfish, it would give me a little bit of time off too.

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Watching Wimbledon has been relatively frustrating. She has always loved watching it and in years past I vividly remember her and Mavis glued to the tv watching Borg, Nastase, Conners et al. Today she decided that they've changed the scoring rules, that the Hewitt match 'is going on too long, it's ridiculous!' and responded to everything said by the commentators.

Eh well. Only another week and a half to go.

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I've ordered the pork from the butcher this afternoon. So far I've decided on roasties, newies, carrots, blue cheesy leeks, courgettes with rosemary and garlic crumbs, beetroot and horseradish relish, apple sauce, some sort of stuffing involving lemons and parsley etc., Yorkshires and gravy (natch). Then a tarte au citron and a damp raspberry/amaretti/ground almond cake thing with cream. I think some Cornish greens need to be in there too, for colour and also for balance. Do we think this sounds ok? Or am I missing something? (yes I do worry about things like this)

ETA oops forgot to mention the sausages wrapped in bacon. Someone attending is v partial to them :)

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I had a bit of vein poppage in my leg on Sunday but not, thankfully, DVT. The result is a whopping bruise on my calf which aches like a bugger. I rang NHS Direct when it happened, they couldn't have been more helpful, calmed my fears and told me to see the GP the following morning. GP was reassuring and told me to rest my leg and elevate it. Which I did. But only after I'd driven 500 miles obviously. I'll post a pic in a bit however, the bruising has faded a bit so not a gruesome as it was on Monday!

Actually Sunday night was eventful for another reason too. Some f****r kicked off my nearside wing mirror overnight. Definitely kicked off as the car was parked nearside to the kerb. I've managed to clip the housing back together but the glass won't go back in properly so it's now taped up waiting for a repair which will cost me £75 excess on the insurance. Like I said. F*****s.