"Let me explain..."

"No it will take too long, let me sum up ..." Inego Montoya. The Princess Bride

I deliberately decided that I would take a break from blogging. I was struggling to write happy and life was swirling around me and I didn't want to miss a single second. The break was great for a few weeks and then the itch to write started again. I had secretly promised myself to start again with the new school term so the itch was so great I wrote other stuff instead. I'll tell more in my next blog. For now let me just sum up my summer.

 We took Wicked Uncle Cliff up to the top of the hill for dinner with Lady Bluefunnel. She texted and said "Dinner here, Sunday?" I replied that Cliff was staying and she said "Bring him" so we did. I don't know what he expected but what he got was a full Sunday dinner with trimmings AND the sight of Mr M in his own personal bib. You see Mr M likes his gravy but he always get Dinner Medals down his chest when he eats it so Lady B has a bib especially for him. And talking of Mr M

 He cut his face on the bedside cabinet when he fell out of bed! I won't draw too graphic a picture but let me try to give you some idea of how difficult if was for him to hurt his left cheek when he sleeps on the side of the bed where the cabinet is on his right side - when he lies on his back. There was an almighty thump (this woke YS who sleeps at the back of the house) and then the sound of groaning and the occasional sob. I peered through the darkness to see a forlorn white face peeking over the side of the bed, tears running down and mingling with the blood from his wound. Getting someone with arthritis in his knees off the floor and back into bed is a bit difficult. He also bruised both arms so I think he was trying to Riverdance in bed.

 We got YS to take this picture because my Grandson Raeffe was visiting before he goes off to Japan for a year to study. We are so proud of him. He has worked hard for the last two years in Uni to get the marks in the exams so he could do this year in Japan. He has wanted this since he was quite young, so seeing someone so determined get to achieve a goal is really very special - just like him. I have to smile at the faces. I seem to be most disapproving but YS is using my camera and I am concentrating on keeping my mouth shut and not trying to explain because I know that as soon as I speak he will click and I will be in the picture with my mouth open like a fish

 We went out shopping and because of a ditherer in front of us we turned off and ended up going through the Elan Valley. It is quite lovely but I seemed to be on the side of the car with the long drop. I don't do heights very well so when we came out the other side I was very glad to hear Mr M say "We've done that now, never have to do that again"

 We ended up in Devil's Bridge. Not bad when we were going five miles up the road to buy groceries. We had a cuppa, Mr M got stung by a wasp. He always takes the hit for me. I am deadly allergic to wasp stings, last time I had to have injections to stop the reaction so I am always careful. He wasn't even anywhere close because I had gone to get pictures of the engine. The nasty, evil little stinger just stung him on his elbow.

 There was a birthday. One with a zero so a bit special. Eldest Son came down from North Wales with Jane, his lovely wife and their three children and we all - Darling Daughter, Favourite Son-in-Law, Miss Boo, Youngest Son and his lovely lady Helen and her two children, Young M and Miss Kezzy, who are Eldest Son's children from his first marriage and Mr M and me - so 16 of us went out for a meal. I was overcome by the heat and Mr M had to bring me home. This meant that NOT ONE person took a picture of the cake. DD had made it in the shape of Francis Rossi's guitar (if you're not a Status Quo fan this will mean nothing) They all came back to our house and the birthday boy opened his presents

Mr M and I had been collecting small daft things for about a year. Every one was individually wrapped and put into one of those plastic storage boxes. Our aim is that in 20 years time everyone will remember the fun of watching him open all the gifts even if we can't remember what they were. We did it for his sister when she reached the same milestone and she said it was the most memorable thing. He thoroughly enjoyed it and so did the youngest of his children who at 18 months thought it was HUGE fun to keep dipping into the box and bringing out another parcel for Daddy to open. She did help him get started on a couple. I intend making an album of all the pictures and giving it to
So, that's my summer, well some of it. I'll skip over the tomato blight on the biggest crop of tomatoes EVER, and the failure of the bean crop and my inability to do what I want to in my garden because I no longer have the strength. I will talk more next time.