Snowy Saturday

After all the promise of snow it finally came over night and when I woke up the garden was covered in blanket of snow. Just enough to make a few snowballs and have some fun. I'll let you imagine how excited all the girls were when they opened the curtains and saw what I had seen a few minutes earlier.

They were all so keen to get out and make foot prints in the snow that I have never seen them get dressed so fast. It was at this point that I noticed how bad Lucy's rash had become since yesterday. It seems to have spread and become more inflamed. She was also complaining as I changed her pull up and her clothes that it hurt. She wasn't herself but I gave her some Calpol and hoped that would do the trick so she could get out and play. Thankfully it did and after getting her wrapped up really warm they all went out to play in the snow. Lucy did her best to join in but soon wanted to come in and rest. Emily and Catherine in contrast had a ball of a time in the snow and had a snowball fight. 

With the initial playing in the snow out of the way it was time for some breakfast and as soon as Catherine was back in the house she was making something for Lucy and herself. Lucy did well eating her Breakfast all things considered, at least she isn't off her food which is always a concern when they are poorly. After Breakfast Emily and Catherine went outside until it was time for Catherine extra Maths lesson, while Lucy just settled down to watch a DVD she had picked off the self. It so unlike her to be so inactive while she is her. She normally doing stuff all the time. 

Catherine is really doing well at her Maths now after the extra lessons. Her speed at doing mental Maths is now increasing and her confidence is growing and it paying off in school too. At the last parents evening her teacher was say how well she is coming on and what a delight she is teach. Her confidence in the classroom is growing and rather than sitting and not asking for help she in now making sure she asks when she needs to. Hopefully she can make up for the problems with her hearing that went unnoticed for so long and she will get good grades in STAT's in the summer.

After Catherine had finished she want back off in the family room to watch a DVD with Lucy who was still resting on the sofa. although Lucy seemed a bit better than she was and was chatting a bit more she was quite happy to stay put. When I changed her bottom the rash was even worse than in the morning. Clearly it is still developing. Thankfully it isn't bothering her too much and she is not trying to scratch it, all the same I put some cream on it to stop it getting infracted should it rub on her nappy. I don't want it to be any bad for her than it is already.

For lunch the girls had soap for lunch with a lovely loaf of fresh bread. Catherine and Emily had Tomato soap while Lucy went for the Scotch Broth , which she liked the last time I had it. It is strange that Emily and Catherine will only eat Tomato soup while Lucy loves all the soups I have, you would have thought by now that it would be the other way round given the former are a lot order. All the same it did the trick and warmed them up before they all went out again to enjoy the snow. Emily and Catherine with their friends while Lucy played with me in the garden until she got to cold and tired again.

In the afternoon we popped to the shops for supplies leaving Emily playing around at Charlies and Georges house. It was a good thing we didn't have Lucy with us as we had to buy the food and the stuff to make a cake for Emily's Birthday linch. The supermarket was really busy, like it always is when there is snow about, everyone goes mad and starts to think they will get snowed in and they buy up the whole shop. A thirty minute shop took nearly an hour in total from the moment we got there until we left. On the way home we popped to the Co Op garage to buy some coal for a fire later when the sun went down before returning home to play some more. Thankfully Lucy was starting to pick up but her rash was getting worse as the day went on.

It was a lovely sunset in the snow when it came along. The sky was such a lovely colour as the sun went down. It was as it got dark that I light the first fire of the winter to warm the house and make it feel homely. There really is nothing like sitting in the glow of the fire late at night knowing the snow is on the ground and you are all nice and snuggly. It one of the things I loved about the house when I saw it. Lucy was scared of the fire at first but soon she got use to it and loved the warmth it gave. I think George helped by laying in front of it and warming his tummy until he got to hot and moved away. 

After the fire was lit I got on with making dinner. As it is Emily's birthday on Sunday we decided to have our Sunday lunch a day early. Tonight we had Roast Chick, our second roast of the week on Thursday we had roast beef which is Catharines favourite. Everyone loved and for once I got the roast parsnips just right. I had been working on the cooking time for a few weeks and got it spot on. We also discovered that Lucy loves the brown chicken meat as much as I do which is rather handy as Emily normally has a leg and recently she has moved on to the breast. I love what she said on Facebook about dinner time: "Fire in the fire place, roast chicken in the oven, snow out side and my birthday tomorrow. What else could I ask for?"

With dinner out of the way there was a little time for Lucy to play before bedtime and tried her best to make the most of it and thanks to Calpol she at least was in a good mood for most of the day. All to soon it was bath time and what a bath time it turned out to be. It turned into a bubble fight and everyone there was covered in bubbles and Lucy was laughing her head off. It was so nice to see her having so much fun after a rather quiet day for her. I was covered in head to foot in bubbles. It was just a shame it had to come to an end and with her hair washed it was out of the bath and off to bed. After her stories she settled down to sleep exhausted from the day.

With Lucy tucked up in bed we settled down to watch the X-Factor around the fire. I'm loving this years show and I'm finding it interesting in terms of how people vote. I finding that people vote for the norm, Wagner aside, and those that are different or unique don't seem to do well, but that is another possible subject for other another post on the blog. The only problem was that I was enjoying the show so much I forgot to send a update to her mummy, but I did it while Wagner was singing his second song. Soon it was time for Emily and Catherine to join Lucy in the land of nod and off they went to bed, and so the day ended for all of them.

It has been a lovely day and everyone has had so much fun. Lucy despite her illness really did make the best of the day. I hope tomorrow is just as lovely for Emily. You only turn twelve once. In the morning we have thing to do but you can read about that in tomorrows post.

Presents and Broken Bones

Another cold start to the day with ice on the could and the temperatures only just rising above zero all day. It was also a day with a busy start because of yesterday's incident at school and the case of the suspected broken finger. On the bright side the sun was shining and remained that way all day and Lucy was coming.

The day started a bit earlier than normal at seven thirty rather than the normal quarter to eight. The plan was to get Emily to the hospital for her x-ray as early as possible to make sure she missed as little of school as possible. Thankfully Catherine can get herself to school if need be and that is what she did this morning. She even feeds the dog before she leaves and lets him out for a walk before putting him back in his spare basket in t he kitchen. With pack lunch made and Emily's bag packed we headed off for Oakham.

Once at the Rutland Memorial Hospital we managed to secure first place in the queue to see the nurse. It turned it that it wasn't surprising as we were first in the queue when we discovered they didn't open up the minor injuries unit until nine o'clock and we were their forty minutes early. It wasn't to bad waiting, it was just nice to chat without anyone else getting in the way and spend some father and big daughter time together. It also meant there was less chance of being late for picking up Lucy although I had primed her mummy just in case I was late picking her up.

It was rather nice that we did get into see the same nurse we saw the same as we did yesterday evening which gave us that continuity of care that is so often important. With the swelling have gone down overnight she was able to find where the break or strain might be and after getting Emily to practice some finger movements and she decided that an x-ray was needed. So we joined the queue at number two and we didn't wait too long before being seen. Emily wasn't keen to go in on her own into the unknown and thankfully they let me in too. As soon as the pictures were taken and even before they were developed the nurse was there and were back in the consultation room waiting for the results. As it turned out Emily not only had broken her finger not in one place but two.

It was just before ten we headed home with Emily's fingers strapped together to get her some pain relief before heading back to Oakham to pick up Lucy together before we went off to school to drop Emily off. It was just as I got home I got the text from Lucy's mummy that she was poorly too and had been to the Doctors> It seems she has the human form of "Foot and Mouth" which although highly contagious is nothing more a mild harmless virus. Basically I texted her back and asked how stop the infection spreading and said we were running a few minutes late. I gave Emily some pain killers and we set off to get Lucy just after getting the reply.

It was lovely to see Lucy's face when she saw Emily. I guess she wasn't expecting it, although she always asks where they are they are even f they are never there when I pick her up. They both walked hand in hand to the car and I carried Lucy's bits and bobs and listened to them chatting. Soon Lucy was all strapped in her car seat and we were off to drop Emily at school before heading off to get some fuel for the car and do a little shopping. On the way home we headed through Oakham only to get caught at the level crossing and for once I wish we hadn't. It wasn't the place I wanted to be however much Lucy loves the trains.

It was just before eleven when we got home. As always we chatted in the car on the way home with Lucy's telling me all her news and when we got home we got a warm welcome from George. I could tell Lucy wasn't her usual self because even before she got home she was asking if she could watch television. It's not something she really does do until she played for ages and needs a rest. In fact she hardly watches television on the weekdays she is here and if she does it only for a few minutes. For example I was surprised on Tuesday that she watched a bit of a film on the PSP but then she did think it was a game and not a film. It's not something she does here.

At lunchtime we headed out to the shops to go look for presents as well as get some presents. The present we had to get was for Emily's Birthday. The night before we decided it was time she had a new phone although she liked her old little phone. The T-mobile tariff wasn't ideal, it didn't have much memory and she even said herself she didn't like texting on it. So I looked at the Orange copy of the Blackberry the Rio. It has many of the standard features you would expect of the Blackberry as well as the Qwerty keyboard that makes texting far easier for her. As well getting for a phone for Emily I wanted to go to Dunelm Mill to look at possible Christmas presents. Lucy loved looking at the Christmas decorations there and I told her we could put up our Christmas tree soon. While we were out Lucy and myself popped into KFC to get something to eat. She so loved her little box of food I will have to get her a snack box again. It seemed to make her feel so grown up.

We could have spent longer shopping but we had go back to Rutland to go and get Emily from School and go back home for Catherine. There was no way we could keep the fact we had brought a new phone for Emily quite with Lucy in the car and so as soon as we saw her and Lucy done her welcome bit we gave her the phone. To say she was delighted would be an understatement, she just loved and I can see why when I played with it. It had all she wanted from a phone plus a little bit more especially when combined with the free internet it will full fill her needs for years to come. Even if it does lack the 3G connectivity provided by the more expensive Blackberries it is some phone for the money. Putting it in context with the basic BlackBerry Curve 8250 doesn't have 3G connectivity either yet it cost a lot more. In fact you could buy three Orange Rio's for the price of one BlackBerry Curve 8250.

When we got home Lucy went off to find Catherine to play with while Emily settled down to learn her phone. Within minutes she had credit and seconds after that she was on the tariff she wanted to give her free internet access as well as free texts. Hopefully it will save her Mum some money who was having to add credit to her phone every other week. With the deal we got she even has an extra £10 credit to play with in the first month. Just what she needs to learn how it works.

It was while Emily was messing with her phone I noticed that Lucy was starting to flag. It is really not like her start rubbing her eyes and just sitting around at that time of day. It was at this point that I thought something was wrong. When I felt her head she had a temperature and when I asked how she felt it was clear she was far less than one hundred present. So it was out with the Calpol to lower her temperature and get her back on her feet. As always it worked a treat and within half an hour she was her usual self and bouncing around the house just in time for a trip to the chip shop in Cottesmore to pick up some food for dinner.

Lucy loves the chip shop and they seem to be falling love with her. She was just being Lucy and managed to get a free lollipop out of them by just smiling and being good. But who couldn't fall in love with someone so cute. Everyone enjoyed there meal and that is the main thing even if it is more expensive than cooking at home.

After dinner there was a little time to play before it was time for Lucy's bath. I love the way she has so much fun in the bath and it is great to join in and have fun too. I just love the way she likes it to be a family occasion and have Emily and Catherine with there too. After she was dry it was off to bed and after her story I gave her kisses and cuddles from all and off she went to sleep. After I knew she was off and all was well I reported back to her mummy all was well.

Soon the house fell silent when Emily and Catherine joined Lucy in the land of nod. For all the fun of the day and all that went on the time to relax is all nice too, Especially after a busy day like today.

Broken Bones?

Well it been quite an eventful day for Emily.  Wile she was in her last lesson, PE, she managed to to catch a ball in such away that she bent her little finger in ways that it is impossible to bend a finger without doing something serious to it.

The school were quick to react and soon had an ice pack on it, but it soon became clear after school it there was something more seriously wrong with it. So off to the minor injuries unit we went in Oakham to see what was wrong with it. The nurse there couldn't tell if it was broken or  not without an x-ray, and the  or nor so she assumed it was broken and strapped it up. We won't know until tomorrow morning if it broken or not, but whatever the outcome it was what she wanted a few days before her Birthday.

Snow

Looking at the weather forecast  it looks like at least some places will be seeing some snow of the next few days. Love it or hate it children find it great fun and it takes me back to the last few winters we have had and some before tI moved to Rutland and while I was still in Leeds.

There something magical about children and snow and the way they just love it They get so excited by even the hint of it falling and laying and they are so disappointed if it just melts away to soon. Especially if it just fallen. They will stay outside until they are frozen to the bone if you let them just to have as much fun as they can. Even last year when the snow was on the ground for over a month did little Lucy ever get fed up with the snow.

It's getting that I can't remember a winter now without snow but I know when I was Emily and Catherine's age it wasn't uncommon to go a whole winter without any significant snow fall. White Christmases were the thing of dreams. Now it seems that every winter see large amounts of snow fall, clearly a sign of changing weather patterns. It really does make all the science of global warming seem like it is all going to come true soon rather than later. It is just a question if we can slow it enough before it causes major problems for future generations. It's just a shame the Government play at being green rather than taking some simple measures like lowering car maximum speed limits to reduce carbon dioxide produced by cars.

Talking or cars and transport, lets hope this time the councils don't run out of grit for the roads like last winter. I remember driving to work only to find the roads at the highest points covered in snow because there wasn't enough grit put on them due to the shortages. There is no excuse for the loss of life caused by such actions around the country. It's not like it doesn't happen every winter now, it does so they should be ordering extra grit to make sure they get it right this year. Shame on any that get it wrong.

For all the downsides of snow there is something special about seeing children play in it. I might not like it when you have to brush it off the car but at the same time it is rather fun. I just hope this winter we get the snow but it doesn't stay around as long as it did in the last few years.

Early Start

I was expecting another dull wet day but when I woke up but the day was fine and the sun was shining. It was cold and a little windy but the brightness in the months leading up to winter is always welcome. It cheers the heart to see the sun anytime of the year. Shame later in the day it clouded over but that didn't stop the fun even if became rather cold. It certainly is turning wintery. 

Shortly after I got up and while I was drinking  I checked the email on the computer to see if anything new had been sent to me. Good thing I did as there was an email asking me to pick Lucy early from Oakham. It seem that there was some sort of emergency that need dealing with. I hope nothing major. Anyway I soon had Catherine and Emily ready for school and and the later dropped off just outside her school in Oakham. On the way back I popped to the Co Op to pick up some milk as normal spotting little Lucy and company on the way to school, waiting to cross the road. I tired to flash them to cross and I slowed down but they didn't notice until it was to late for them to cross at all. On the way back I need to go to the bank. I always thought they opened at nine but not in Oakham it's half past nine so I had some time to kill and popped into the church to light a candle for those I love and those I have lost.

Soon it was time to get Lucy and I drove the short journey from the church to the house she lives in when she is not here. It must have been earlier than I thought because when I knocked on the door there was no reply, but I didn't have to wait long until she came round the corner, spotted me and ran into my arms bring a smile to everyone. She had been to the shops with her mummy to buy some crisps. Soon we were heading back to the church to park again before going off to the bank for the second time.  On the way and to past a little time we popped into Fords of Oakham to look at the toys. It was nice and warm in there and people are always so welcoming even if your just looking around. She loves the toy trains in there and was showing some of the other things she would like to have, but we didn't have long to stay there the bank had opened I was keen to get home again to begin the day.

When we got home we were welcomed by George who is always pleased to Lucy. Like I have said before the are partners in crime and he follows her around the house for most the day and even when he is sleeping he is in the same room. We spent the morning playing games in the family room and out in the garden playing on her tricycle which we eventually brought into the house and out of the cold. After a while she settled down to watch a film on my PSP which she found on my chair. It was the film "Robots" which Emily and Catherine also loved when they were younger. She loved it although she did think it was a game because she had seen me play games on the PSP. Talking about films on the PSP I'm surprised I have never been asked to borrow the ones I have, I know someone else little that likes them, and maybe I could borrow the "League of Gentleman" in return. 

For lunch we headed out in the car to find something nice to eat, although I did have some food in, but can wait until another day. He headed out of Rutland through Uppingham and onto Corby passing the Eyebrook Reservoir which straddles the boarders of Leicestershire and Rutland. Later returning to take a picture on the way back home. I had been meaning to take a picture of it for ages and for once I had a camera with me and I worked out where to stop. We ended up in Corby for lunch at Greggs which we all love before heading back.

Passing through Uppingham for a second time we stopped to look around. While there I took the opportunity to take a few more pictures of Uppingham to add to my collection of pictures of Rutland. Lucy doesn't sem to mind what we do as long as she is with me and we just chatted away the time between snaps.

When we got back to Oakham there was a little time left to go to the park before we picked up Emily form school to take her home. Lucy loves the going to the park and even 10 to 15 spent there means the world to her. Today was no exception despite the the cold. We stayed there as long as time allowed enjoying all it had to offer. Back in the warm car there wasn't long to wait before Emily arrived and got her Lucy welcome. I love the way she looks forward to seeing us all from the moments she gets in the car when I pick her up. When we got home it was Catherine's turn for her welcome and they all went off to play together and have fun in the family room, until something happened.

It was just before dinner that Lucy bumped her head on the floor. The cottage has titled floors downstairs and they are all very hard. Great for cleaning but it sure hurts if you fall on them. Emily came in to the kitchen with a crying Lucy and a bump. Quickly we applied an ice pack and soon Lucy was sitting down with CAtherine playing nurse and helping her keep it in the right spot. Lucy was really good and thankfully we got the ice pack on soon enough to keep the swelling down to a minimum. I worry about things like this since Catherine got concussion at her mums so I'm very quick to act. Thankfully Lucy seemed alright and ate loads of her dinner and was soon running around again.

After dinner they all went back to playing and I kept checking to make sure Lucy was alright. The bump didn't seem to be bothering her at all thankfully. The manage to have a lovely time until it was time for Lucy to return back to Oakham. On the way back we chatted about her day and told her to be good for everyone and that I loved her as always. The drop off was rather subdued but they have been like that for  a while. I guess, there is too much that hasn't been said and that that has been said isn't acknowledged or understood. It is like everything is buried in the hope it will go away, but things don't go away until you sort them out especially if they are important. Anyway life goes on all the same and time moves on and little ever changes. All you can do is know what you know and trust that the truth comes to the fore.

When I got back Emily and Catherine had gone onto the computers to watch some of the programmes they love so much on BBC iPlayer.I must admit the way BBC iPlayer is changing how people watch television is rather interesting. Gone are the days when you had to wait for your favourite programme and have to sit through the ones you don't like. They just both pick and mix what they want to watch and when. Sometimes watching together and sometimes on their own. Also solves the problem of one want to watch one programme while the other one wants to watch something else and the arguments that can cause. It took them through to bedtime when they both went up to sleep.

With a lesson observation tomorrow it going to be a long night and a busy day in the morning. I hope little Lucy is alight overnight and her bump on the head comes to nothing. I'll text in the morning to check that she is alright. I sure she will be but it is best to check, it will put my mind at ease. I hate when she hurts herself even if it couldn't be helped. She is one of many I love with all my heart and mean the world to me.