Streaky

DH washed the windows.

Again.

They're still streaky.

And now it's raining.

Watery Afternoon

You might think that we have some kind of perverse wish to be banned from The Most Adorable Granddaughter#4's life for good. Nothing could be further from the truth. If there's anything perverse in our behaviour, it's this: we want to see how many times Son#2 and DIL#2 can extend forgiveness to the grandparents who are so obviously corrupting their precious child.

No, we didn't give her sugar. It was far worse. Today while her Mummy and Daddy dozed on the couch, DH and I took her outside to explore the garden. After a short time, the early childhood teacher side of me came out and I couldn't help myself: I just had to see what she would do if we offered her the hose. As you can see, she had a lot of fun!









And so did we! We're also hoping the fact that we gave her a warm bath and clean clothes afterwards will count for something when the time of reckoning approaches.

Big Blue Eyes

We were allowed to babysit The Most Adorable Granddaughter#4 this afternoon. I thought we'd blown it after we (that is DH and I) misbehaved the other night, but apparently we've been forgiven. We were given instructions as to what time she had to have her bottle, what time she had to go down for a nap, and that we were not to give her sugar in ANY FORM. We thought we'd done quite well ... until Son#2 read the fine print and it turned out that the baby rice pudding we'd try to feed her (she refused it) had sugar in it. Oh dear. I suspect we've ruined our chances for good. My only plea is that I can no longer read the fine print on the bottles.

Print is no longer what it used to be. Everyone seems to be using a smaller font these days and this is especially true for whoever puts out the telephone directory (I suspect they are in cahoots with the optometrists - otherwise why would they use the smallest font known to mankind?). I have to hold anything in print at arm's length if I hope to have any chance of reading it. It would help if my arms were a little longer, but I guess that would be out of proportion to the rest of me. I even have a large-print Bible (well I don't know if it's officially a large-print version but the print is rather ahem large) but first thing in the morning I have difficulty reading even that. And I usually can't hold it at arm's length because I'm eating my porridge at the same time and trying to balance Bible and bowl on my lap because I'm still in bed and deluding myself into thinking that I have heaps of time before I have to get up.

However, I do not need glasses. No I do not. And how do I know? Because today I cleaned our windows THREE TIMES and I can still see every streaky mark and every flake of paint that has been left behind. The storm that lashed our house - and windows - two weeks ago deposited salt and dirt all over our windows (and not just on the outside) and it has taken at least three attempts to get them to a state resembling clean. If anyone dares comment that they do not look clean ... watch out!

And talking of windows ... DH and I have narrowed our search for curtain/blind fabric down to just two. That's right: two. My only fear is that when we receive the quote it will be so far out of our budget range that we'll have to start looking all over again.




Perhaps we could rip the pages out of the phone book and glue them together and use them to cover the windows? At least that way they would get used!

When the Cats are Away

... the mice will play.





(Or why do my Mummy and Daddy go to Bible Study on Tuesday night and leave me at the funny farm?)

I Thought

I was dreading this year: my boys off at University and just DH and I rambling around in our big old house. I thought it would be incredibly difficult: that I'd cry all the time and walk around feeling sorry for myself.

I don't.

I was afraid of the silence (what silence?) and that I'd start talking to myself.

I haven't - well not that I've noticed.

I expected to walk into their rooms and burst into tears to see those same rooms once again clean (after how many years?).

Again, I don't (although I will admit that I'd so gotten into the habit of avoiding their rooms that I never think to go down there).

I expected the grocery bill to go down.

It has. But only marginally and I certainly didn't expect to have an over abundance of cheese, potatoes, carrots and sugar. (Any suggestions for recipes using those ingredients?)

I thought I'd miss them terribly.

And I do. Very muchly.

I Should

1. Be getting ready for work but I dread the thought of going. The stress and hours seem to increase daily. I had promised myself that I would only do the extra hours until the end of February ... but now it will be for at least another two weeks. I can see what's going to happen: I'll still be doing the extra hours come Easter. New teachers, teachers off on extended sick-leave, seventeen new children, research ... it's all getting to me.

2. Not be angry at the weather - after all I cannot control it - but I had big plans for this weekend and they did not include half a day without power and having to rewash curtains and windows that were done only a month ago. Okay, I haven't washed them yet but I will have to soon after Friday and Saturday's wind forced rain and dirt through the gaps in the window frames.

3. Learn how to crotchet. I have a whole lot of leftover wool from knitting socks and it's more than I need to knit the nativity scene I started a year ago. I thought I could remember how to crotchet from my early teen years but my granny squares are so wonky and leave a lot to be desired. So ... I'm trying knitted squares even though I've never been fond of knitted blankets.




4. Just forget that I ever had five sons since three of those sons seem to have forgotten me. Ungrateful offspring!

5. Enjoy the joys that do come my way. Like this little darling.


Very easy to do!

Waiting

I keep waiting for some body - any body - to come out of the dark recesses of what is known on our house plan as Bedrooms 2 & 3 and look for food. I keep expecting to see a pantry or fridge door open and hear someone ask, "What's to eat?"

This despite there being hardly any food in the house - even though Sons#3, #4 and #5 have all left home.

However, when they do come back, I already have some willing cooks to help me cook up a storm.





(Making Pita Bread. This recipe is fantastic for anyone wanting fresh pita bread any time of the day or night as the dough is kept in the fridge and you just break off what you need. And there's no kneading either. How easy is that!)


(Rosemary Flatbread. Recipe from here. Believe me this is worth trying. It has a buttery taste despite the fat in the recipe coming entirely from olive oil. For Australian readers, this crispbread tastes very much like the SAO biscuit.)