Ups and downs today

Today's been good, but it has been a bit thoughtful and reflective as well. The FH took the girls to Cambridge this morning so that the YFG could have her orthodontic braces put on. Given that the roads were bad, and the weather looking dicey, they allowed two hours for a journey which could be done in 45 minutes in good weather and light traffic.

Whilst they were gone, I pottered around in the house for a while, and the post arrived. In the post came a card from a family we know in Scotland. The mum in the family is a girl I knew from university at St Andrews - we had rooms on the same corridor for our first year in a Hall of Residence, and she is Catholic, and so is my best friend from those days, so they spent time together as well. When we sold our first house to move along the road, she and her husband bought it - it was a huge surprise when they came to look around. We knew each other, but we weren't really friends - we didn't have a lot in common back then as I was studying theology and she was doing maths or science. So we lived in the same street for a couple of years, and I had the EFG and then the YFG and she had two boys over time. We have kept in touch, via Christmas cards and letters - and it was her card and letter which touched me so much today. Her fourth child was born in April - a little sister for the three boys - and she has Down's Syndrome, and had to undergo some quite traumatic surgery early on in her life to close a hole in her heart. Little BT sounds like quite a fighter, and the photo included in the letter shows three adoring older brothers holding her for the post, so she is very well loved. I can't be there for them because I am so far away, but I can remember BT and her family in my prayers. If you are of a praying mind, I'd be glad if you would think of them too.

I had a bath, and then wrapped up in many layers and stepped outside. I quite honestly have not been outside a door in two weeks, so I just mooched around the garden for a while, and then had a look at the chooks. The FH has done his best to look after them, but they were in sore need of cleaning out, so I did that for an hour and a half, and they were very grateful! I also gave them some hot mash to warm them up. I found a couple of dead chickens as well, which was sad - one very freshly dead in the run which must have just died in the past couple of hours since the FH let them out and fed them in the morning. It is likely to have died because of the cold weather. I also found our beloved Lana - she was a beautiful little bantam, who must have been quite an age - about 5 or 6 we think. She probably died last night, as I found her body in the shed where she had gone in to roost. She and her sister Leah had free run of the garden so Leah is looking a bit lonely today. We were all a bit sad about Lana as she had been a very favourite chook for years, and we will miss her mooching about the garden, but she had had a very happy life, raised a good number of foster-chicks, and been a good mum. RIP Lana.

The girls and the FH arrived home at about 2.30pm and within an hour the FH was off again to help a friend with a leaking sink! The girls and I enjoyed a visit from a friend and her daughter whilst he was out - I hadn't had a chance for a good chat with B for nearly two months, so we all sat round the fire with a cup of tea each and caught up on the news.

This evening, my delivery from Sainsbury's has arrived, and I have scored a free turkey! I ordered a turkey crown, which would serve 8-10 people, and some packs of chicken thighs on offer at 3 for £5. These items didn't quite make it here - although the rest of the delivery was great. I phoned up to complain about the chicken thighs as I got substitutions which cost me £11.08 - I don't mind some subs but that was taking the p! And the turkey crown had become a full turkey but one which only served 4-6 people. I phoned - and had to wait 35 minutes to speak to someone so I was pleased that it was a free phone number - to complain about the way the subs are done; surely they would be able to see that I needed a bigger turkey if the one I had actually ordered would feed that many people, and as for the chicken, well! If something is on offer at £5, you don't expect to have to pay more than twice that for the sub, do you?!? So the lady very kindly offered me a full refund for the turkey, and refunded the difference between the offer price and what I paid for the chicken. It does pay to moan occasionally, although I wouldn't make a habit of it. Perhaps they will sub more thoughtfully in future.....

The YFG is now having some pain in her teeth, so she has had some Calpol, and some rice pudding - her back teeth can't meet, she says, so she can't chew at all. That could be tricky, so I am going to phone up for advice in the morning. If anyone has advice from their own experience, I'd be glad to read it!