Glorious Friday

Well I couldn't ask for better weather with October just around the conner to have Lucy for a weekend. We are in the middle of a heatwave of the kind we haven't seen in years and it looks set to stay that way for the rest of the weekend to come. The weather really is glorious for the time of year, in fact according to the news it was the hottest last day in September for one hundred years.

After a rubbish nights sleep I gave up and got up just before seven. I was just so anxious I couldn't sleep. I don't think I even managed four hours sleep. Thirty minutes or so later I could hear Emily and Catherine getting up and ready for school. An hour later, after breakfast and pack lunch making we were heading off down the road in the car together chatting about seeing Lucy and the weekend. Thankfully for once, when I got back I manage to get a parking space and didn't have to walk miles to get home. I have never known the local primary school to generate so much traffic as it does now.

Once I got home there was just enough time for a coffee and a quick shower and a shave before heading out to the city. Although I left on time I didn't allow for my bodily needs and ended up being late after searching for a petrol station with a toilet. When I did arrive I was greeted by Lucy who opened the door and flew into my arms. It was a lovely welcome and as soon as I was passed the bag we head down the path with her after she gave her mummy a kiss. As we headed back to countryside she chatted and chatted about the things that she had been doing and I asked the questions it was suggested I ask her without much success so it is back to the drawing board on that one.

It wasn't too long before we arrived in the village of Somerby and went to what has now become know a the horsey park because of the near by equestrian centre and the number of horses and riders that past the gate to the park. She really loves that little park. She even asked if we were going there after she asked if Emily and Catherine were in the car. It is lovely little park and like the last time we were there we both had loads of fun playing on the things it has to offer. Much use was made of the slide and the swings before imaginative play kicked in and she was playing shop keeper and making me ice creams to order. The shop counter being one of the tires on the climbing frame. It was nice in the sun but in the end it came to the time to leave and we headed back into Rutland without compliant from Lucy.

When we arrived back in the village there were no parking spaces near the house because of people picking up there children from school and people working at the school using the roads near by to park their cars. It is starting to become a village wide issues as it not just directly outside the school. So moan aside we headed towards the village church. It was the one places Lucy had wanted to go last time she was here and we never got to and it had the advantage that churches seem naturally cool. For some reason the church has become a special place for me it is so peaceful even with Lucy in it calling my name so to spend time there is always a delight. Of course she played the piano, with the toys she found and did some role play when she was in the pulpit. It was all good fun and when we looked at the book of remembrance for those that had died in the great war there was the photograph of a person that lived in my house over hundred years ago with his mother.

When I got home there was a little hungry tummy to feed and after she gave George a Lucy welcome she sat down and waited for me to get her dinner. Nothing special but something quick. I knew she would be hungry when we got home, she always is. After stopping for food she was off finding all her toys and things she loves playing with. The dolls house got special attention today. It was nice having her back, that ability she has brightens peoples days is not lost on me although she has her naughty side too, but what three year old doesn't. They can be demanding a well, but that is understandable too given she wants to make sure I'm there and not going anywhere and now I know that is just a thing that goes away with time the longer she stays. It was fun playing with her around the house but we couldn't miss out on the weather.

The final destination for our afternoon together before we met up with Emily and Catherine was the park in Oakham. A park that Lucy loves and knows so well. She set off playing but unlike the last time she was there there was less running around than normal and she was more selective on the things she played with. preferring the swings for some reason when normally she spends most of her time in the playground. When she did get in the playground she did manage to find a little friend to play with which is always rather fun to watch. After a while I think the weather was getting the better of her so we headed for the church to cool down. There is a toy corner there and she played there before we headed back to the park for the final minutes before we had to leave.

From the park we headed to the school where we waited for the bell to ring and Emily and Catherine to appear through the turnstiles. Lucy was assigned the job of spotting them and she kept a close eye on the young people as they emerged from the school. It was long before her keen eye spotted Catherine and she was shouting her name out of the car window.As soon as Catherine got into the car she gave Lucy a massive hug, before she joined Lucy looking for Emily. We had quite a wait, normally she appears with her friend Millie, but today Millie passed us by minus Emily. We waited and we waited and she appeared with a big smile on  her face an ice cream in her hand she had bought with her pocket money. She gave Lucy a big welcome when she got in the car and as a bonus a lick of the ice cream.

From the school we headed to the supermarket in Oakham. We needed to pick up some food for dinner and some other essentials. Emily and Catherine had loads of fun together going around the aisles with Lucy in the trolly. It didn't take long and soon we were leaving. As we left Lucy wanted to go on the children's ride near the entrance, but I didn't have the cash in my pocket so that had to wait for another time. Lucy, bless her, was fine with it and off we went home where the girls made up for lost time. They just got on with playing while I cooked the dinner we had brought.

Dinner was a simple and quick affair, it had to be as Emily had to get ready and get off for a party, a process that is taking longer and longer. We settled for sausages, steamed vegetables and boiled potatoes. Simple but nice and with the sausages grilled it reduced the fat in the meal by avoiding adding extra fat adding from frying the food. Something I am keen on doing is steaming vegetables and this avoids adding salt in boiling to add flavor. Vegetables have much more natural flavor when steamed. Emily isn't keen on the steamed vegetables, but is nothing new in terms of my cooking but, just something I haven't done in years. She will just have to get use to it as I'm not going to give up on the more healthy food. Once dinner was out of the way we all got in the car and drove in to Oakham to drop Emily off at her friends birthday party.

It was on the way back from dropping Emily off at her party that a low point for me occurred when Lucy said she lives with mummy now it was like someone stabbed my heart with a knife. I wanted her to feel she had two homes and that we would share bring her up. I have this feeling of being cut out of her life for awhile and that didn't help. I didn't have a child to become some part time parent, it is not me. I want to be involved in her life, not cut out of it and I don't want her to feel that I have ever cut her out of mine. That is so far from the truth she is just much a part of my life as Emily and Catherine. I know it will all sort itself out at some point but I hope that point comes sooner rather than later. It doesn't have to be like this. Despite this I wasn't going let it show and spoil everybody's day.

When we got home there was just a few more minutes to play with Catherine before Lucy went to bed. They both made the most of it, but it wasn't long before Lucy was heading up to stairs to bed. She seemed more than happy to be going to bed. She had a busy day I guess.

Lucy was was looking forward to a story form Emily at bedtime, but Catherine made up for it and read her two stories while I searched for her bottle she had managed to forget where she lost it. After a short while I found it and joined them to hear the last part of the second story from Catherine. Lucy with her bottle settled down for my story before she got her kisses and cuddles and went to sleep. It was nice to have her back again.

Emily appeared again just after nine, dropped off by Millie's mum, full of stories of the fun she had at the party with her friends. Soon she settled down to relax for a little while and unwind before I sent her and sister to bed, who had been watching television on the computer in the family room. Soon they joined Lucy in her land of dreams.

It was just before midnight that Lucy woke up. She had had dry cough all day but it didn't seem to be productive. Just one of those thickly coughs children seem to get sometimes, even Lucy didn't seemed to concerned about it other than she told us she had a cough every so often. It wasn't clear if it was then of something old or the start of something new. When she woke however things had got worse. It was the cough that woke her and her breathing wasn't as good as it had been during the day, although at first she said it was a bad dream but it was clear after a few minutes what the real cause was. Emily heard her shouting to and came into the room and as I hugged her, she told her a story. Soon she was back in bed but given she has had breathing problems in the past and what happened last time back in February, I was in two minds what to do in the morning  When finally I felt comfortable going bed in the early hours of the morning myself but I did wonder how much that time in February hit her confidence.

I have had a lovely day since I picked up Lucy. It really has been wonderful to have her again especially with the weather being the way it is. I so looking forward to another couple of lovely days with all my girls together once we see how Lucy is in the morning and decide if she needs to see the doctors or not. something is not right so I think the doctors might be the right option to put my mind at rest as I don't want to have another night like tonight. It not fair on one so little.