Sun and rain, laughter and sadness...contrasts......

Those of you who are on Facebook will know that I managed to spend half of yesterday out in public - think hospital, McDonald's and supermarket, crossing the village recreation ground - wearing my top inside out. And I had my 22 year old son with me, and he managed to completely miss his mother's interesting attire. So I get to make an idiot of myself, and am accompanied by a man who clearly thinks this is normal. Heaven alone knows what the general public were thinking.

Sigh.

Such talent. Such style. As my daughter would remind me - this is not the first time. I still manage to leave the house without checking I am suitably dressed. I may need an OBSERVANT keeper around these parts.

Apparently, according to various friends, this could mean that I am supposed to get a present, or a surprise,. or that it was bad luck to turn the offending item of clothing the right way round. I was joined in my happy fashion disaster by a friend who only noticed the hole in her shorts after spending the afternoon at the local pool, and another who managed to leave the house wearing her slippers. She has an excuse, though, She is a new mum. So i am not alone. Any more crazy clothing stories out there????

The absence of presents or surprises by this morning - I am nothing if not impatient here - made me call up the Inland Revenue instead and ask when they were likely to send me my tax refund. Oh yes, they said. We will get on to that. You should hear from us in the next few weeks. They used the wrong tax code. But I don't think that classes as either a present or a surprise. Hmmm. Nice though, paltry though it may be. One is thankful for small mercies miracles.

And the rain has just started falling. We have had warm weather, and I even managed to get the sunshade up in place today. Maybe that was tempting fate. But we really do need a great deal of rain here. The drops that fall now and then do nothing to alleviate the drought.

I have a piece of paper somewhere, you know, with a list of topics I want to chat about. It is lost. Are you at all surprised? I think not. On my desk right now, I have managed to find a recipe for chocolate biscuits, a list of categories for the paper sorting boxes, a piece of paper with addresses on (that will be lost too in a few minutes, I can tell), tax code letters, the address for Loop, a yarn shop in London, at Camden Passage (in case I lose that one too), a cheese biscuit (cookie) recipe which is divine - you sandwich them together with apricot jam (jelly), and a to-do list for the wedding which was 2 months ago, and the bride and groom are now an old married couple.

Organisation is not one of my gifts, as I have mentioned a time or two before.

I have tried to motivate my son re the emptying of the attic idea, but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears today. And to be honest, the thought of a mountain of boxes to be sorted does not fill me with excitement or delight. I see MESS in my future.

If the sun shines, though, the doors will be flung open and I will be out there in the garden/s. All three of them, not counting the allotment. This is a garden week. Much watering to be done, despite any rain. Peace and beauty are the reward.

Missy and her parents, together with 4 other families (all met at NCT classes, so the 5 little ones all have birthdays within a week or two of each other) spent the weekend at Peppa Pig World and judging by the photos, 5 little two and a half year olds had the time of their lives. So did their Dads, because they got to go on the big water rides sans kiddies. I wish I could show you some photos, but trust me, they loved it. The only blip seems to have been actually meeting Peppa Pig, who was very large, and all of them seem to have climbed their respective Daddy's legs to safety. The Mums also seemed to love the rides and reclining on the tails of dinosaurs, of course.....

This time 5 years ago, Geoff was finally transferred to Oxford. Hope reigned supreme. It was a hot, hot day - I spent it at the hospital, fighting for his transfer, just sitting with him, watching the monitors next to him, and chatting about ordinary things. He could hardly breathe, and couldn't really talk, but wanted me there, wanted to hear me talk. He always was a quiet man. I was the noisy one. Nick visited him. Peter visited him. They were worried sick about what they saw.

You know, one of the things I will NEVER forget is going to speak to the nurse in charge, and  asking how Geoff was really doing. Her response was to look at the other staff and ask "Who is Geoff?" One responded "Oh, he is the AVR (aortic valve replacement) in bed one." He had been on the ward for 6 days by then. They didn't see him as a person. Just a case. A condition. Back in September that year, I wrote something which I stand by today. Scientific and technological advances have excluded human personal touch in the wards of the hospitals. So sad. The irony is that I wrote it before I knew the full extent of everything. That came later.



Ah well...... they tried. I know that.

And the rain is back again.

Words....such simple little collections of letters and some not so easy to utter out loud. But here, writing in my own little corner, it is such a release valve for me. Somewhere, albeit heavily edited, where I can talk. Of turmoil, of gardens, of children, of homes, of creativity, of books, of pain and of laughter.

 Life, right?

Who would have thought even 10 years ago, that we would be friends - little spidery web-like things from all over the world linking together right here. A network of real people who read and know and listen, no matter what the hour. 

Right. Time to go and water gardens in the rain. Supper to plan. Dogs to feed. And tomorrow is another day..............