I often say that the only good thing about February is that it doesn’t last long, but this year it seems to have gone on for a while, but is that because we have been busy yet again and so haven’t noticed the time passing? We have managed to cram quite a lot into this short month really…too much I think at times. So, what exactly have we been up to then?
The month began where January left off with the baby catching chickenpox from her sister. Whilst L had been fine with a few spots, poor M ended up absolutely covered in spots and very grouchy as she hasn’t really got to the stage where she can reach areas to scratch away the itchiness (which is good news) and so just found it hard to get comfortable. There has not been a lot of sleep being had by anyone in my daughter’s household for a few weeks now and everyone is looking a little worse for wear! The worst is now over which is just as well as I have been on call for babysitting quite a bit due to Hazel having to go on a course as part of the adoption process and I have been in charge each Monday morning as she is not allowed to take the baby with her! All has gone well so far thankfully! I also found myself agreeing to help out our son-in-law one Saturday whilst Hazel took a day’s break to meet up with her uni friends, and Phil’s puppy dog eyes became impossible to ignore as he planned to take both children on a visit to Walby Farm Park. It was just as well I was there as it turned out, as M needed feeding as soon as we got there and L needed the loo in a hurry! He would have struggled big time on his own! He was heard to say that he didn’t know how Hazel coped every day…Mmm!!
We also had another visit to Manchester at the beginning of the month to allow our son and daughter in law to go up to Edinburgh for a couple of nights to see Susie’s sister (who is undergoing chemo at the moment) before Susie herself began her own course of chemo. We managed to collect the grandchildren from school, get them to various activities and off to school again in the mornings without too much trouble. We also took the opportunity to meet up with some friends, John and Elizabeth, from when we used to live in Marple which was nice and we enjoyed a good catch up with them. We had intended to have a longer look around Marple but the weather that day was dreadful and so we called a halt earlier than intended and headed back to Matthew’s house. We celebrated our successful couple of days with a nice ride home through the Lake District which is always a bonus!
Our other nice visit also took us to the Lake District where we went to celebrate Geoff’s birthday and Valentine’s Day (and yes I did get some beautiful flowers for that) with a night away in a lovely little hotel (The Damson Dene) which had a pool and a spa so Geoff was able to fulfil his birthday request for a swim, sauna and steam room session. We also spent a very pleasant time in Kendal, somewhere we rarely go to. It is a very interesting place it turns out and we enjoyed our walk around it and a visit to Abbot Hall art gallery. His actual birthday had been earlier in the week and although it was pretty low key, he did get some good presents and we had a great meal cooked by our daughter in the evening. And of course, there was a cake…a dinosaur one to compliment all the dinosaur gifts our granddaughter had “bought” for him (or were they really for her???). I just hoped she doesn’t see him as a dinosaur…although mind you he is getting quite old now! I can only say that for 3 months until I catch him up! He also got a rather puzzling T shirt as a gift from our son. It took us quite a while to figure out the motif on the front but when the penny finally dropped it turned out it had been specially chosen by Matthew as a reminder of a football programme that he and his dad used to watch every Saturday where a guy sat in an Italian café discussing the football headlines from Italian sports newspapers. Geoff was very touched by that (a few tears were shed) as it had obviously been a special father and son time and one which was remembered by Matthew even today and he is wearing that T shirt with great pride now 
We have been out for lunch a couple of times too this month enjoying a last, as it turns out, visit to the tea rooms at Lanercost where we heard the sad news that the tea room and gift shop there were to close. That is such a shame as both places were great and we often enjoyed going there especially in summer when it was lovely to sit outside and eat. We also revisited another of our favourite haunts at Talkin for lunch one Wednesday. As always at this time of the year we have really loved seeing all the snowdrops which grow in abundance around here. They are a magnificent sight forming beautiful white carpets and really lift my spirits as I regard them as a true harbinger of spring.
My brother Brian paid us a visit last week too. He came across from the NE by train along with my niece Clare and her daughter Eloise and we all spent a good day with them visiting Tullie and the cathedral. Hazel, Phil and the girls joined us and we all had a really nice time. Fortunately, L and Eloise got on well (I had worried a bit about that as they are both very strong-willed little girls!) and it was really good to spend time together. We don’t do these family gatherings often enough really…something to be rectified in the future methinks. Hazel and Phil have rediscovered Beamish Outdoor Museum over half term and as Brian and co go there often, that could be a good place for a family get together in the future.
There have been a couple of not so pleasant visits made this month too of course. Geoff finally gave in and went to visit the GP (a very rare event!) to get some treatment for a skin problem on his legs and happily that seems to be working well. That is good news as shorts wearing time is fast approaching again! Not to mention the leg exposures which will be occurring once we get to France! My visits to the eye clinic for the injections have continued too…I am thinking of getting my name put on one of the chairs soon! However, they too are going to be put on hold for a while now until I next see the consultant to discuss future treatment, and that will be after we get back from France, I fear.
We have been paying a lot of visits…albeit virtual ones via the TV…to the snowy slopes and ice rinks of Northern Italy these last two weeks. Yes…we have loved the Winter Olympic coverage along with millions of other people. I particularly have loved the curling events although I found the last men’s team match almost impossible to watch! Talk about high tension! I have also enjoyed the commentary from the two guys on the snowboard and half pipe events, although I have to confess, I still have no clue about what they were talking about most of the time! Their enthusiasm was enough to make it highly enjoyable and was in sharp contrast to the commentary by Steve Cram on the curling which I found to be very pessimistic a lot of the time. The ice skating events were also great to watch although again I miss the grace and elegance of the ice dancing we used to watch in days gone by. All in all, it was a good Games and we are missing our daily visits to Italy very much now that it is over. I’m not sure about the Para Olympics. Will it get the same high level of coverage? We will have to wait and see I suppose.
And so, into March we go now. Looking at the calendar it looks as if it could be another busy time ahead and so we will be more than ready for our escape to St Aygulf, by the time April 1st comes round. March starts off with the Carlisle Music and Speech and Drama festival where I will be competing yet again. I really need to start doing some practice for that now, if I am to do myself justice and replace the trophies I have recently had to return! We also have a yearly football (or not…wait until next month for details of the problems with that!) meetup with Geoff’s old school pals in Preston to sort out. But again I’m getting ahead of myself so I will bid you all farewell for this month.
A bientot mes amis