Spring has sprung...

Bright and cheerful crocuses - a few flowers blew away in the gales the other week, but plenty more have followed on.

It's been a lovely sunny day here in Liverpool. John was feeling sufficiently recovered to go for a swim this afternoon, and take a bit of a walk along Otterspool Prom amongst the kite-flyers and other strollers.

Yesterday we drove over to Clatterbridge in the afternoon to visit my father. I thought he seemed less well than the last time I saw him, about 2 weeks ago I think, but it's hard to tell. Maybe it's just disorientation after being moved. But he was pleased to see us.

He has a label around his wrist saying something like "Danger of Falling", and I was relieved to see he is now in a bed with side bars. He kept getting out of bed before (on the last ward), but didn't manage to use the frame he'd been given. Instead of leaning on it he just carried it around. Dr R will be doing a ward round on Tuesday or Wednesday, so hopefully we will get a better idea of how things are going after that.

Some of the freesias the girls gave me for Mothering Sunday are still flowering, and they still smell wonderful. John can't smell freesias. And it's my favourite flower because of its perfume. He brought me a bunch into LMH when I'd just had Sarah. I woke in the night, and smelled them, and cried. Felt so lonely, and touched he had remembered how I liked freesias even though he can't smell them. Plus was terrified at having a baby - I'd never even held a baby before I was being trundled on a trolley through the bowels of the hospital clutching Sarah to me and scared I was going to drop her.

Of course that was back in the days when you were kept in for 10 days as standard. But I was chucked out after 7 as they needed the bed. So some things haven't changed!

New Year's Eve

I've always hated New Year's Eve, almost as much as birthdays. I can still remember at school how the other girls kept going on about what they were going to have as New Year Resolutions. I don't think I ever made one, and I'm not going to start now!



We are celebrating the New Year by putting our new sheets from IKEA on the bed - or rather John is. My share of this enterprise consisted of shifting some of the huge piles of stuff that have been on the bed since I began wrapping the Christmas prezzies. These piles have been growing ever since, and last night I kept waking up because I couldn't stretch my legs out. Plus I was so thirsty I had to go downstairs around 2am to get a bottle of Tesco's Spring Water (our tap water seems to be over-chlorinated a lot of the time, most unpalatable!). By which time I was so wide awake I logged on and picked up email and did a spot of web browsing. Nicely tired after that, so got some more sleep, though disturbed by J snoring (as usual!).

Super breakfast - lambs kidneys with bacon, fried up leftover mashed potato, and half a tomato... Tomato flavourless as usual -what do the supermarkets do to tomatoes to make them so tasteless? I'm hoping that'll count as at least half a portion of fruit, but seeing as it tasted of nothing maybe not.

We're having gales and very heavy showers today. Our side windows are leaking - shows up how they really need washing as they have clean streaks down them now. At least the strong wind means the showers are blowing over quickly, but I worry about the trees across the side road blowing onto our roof. And it's getting noisier too - guess the wind strength is still rising.

John's heading out to Otterspool Prom to get some (very) fresh air and see the waves on the Mersey. Rather him than me! He's declined the use of the camcorder to video the river - reckons it's too damp. Might spend my Xmas cash on a waterproof cover for it, if they're still available.

A quiet evening is planned, a bottle of Champagne (though not as nice as the Mumm de Cramant Sarah brought from France for Christmas) will go in the fridge in a while, and I think we'll be watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny later on. Be nice to see Lily Allen and The Zutons but I could do without the rest, especially First Battalian of the Scots Guards at midnight. We usually go out and dance* around the tree on the pavement then (so missing the bagpipes) but it may be too wild and windy for that this year.

Happy New Year!

* I stagger rather than dance - vestibular dysfunction don't lead to good enuff co-ordination for decent dancing!