BBQ on Sunday

 We had a bbq on Sunday.  I made yoghurt marinated lamb kebabs.

I stayed up a little later tending to the fire

It was fun but fing freezing!

Flo had a good time

So did the dogs.

London Calling

 I met up with my old work colleague in London yesterday for drinks.  The start didn't go too well as the place we chose didn't sell beer.  £20 later we found the Porterhouse which was great.

The West End was strange.  Most shops and things where open but it was terribly quiet.  A lot of the pubs that we would have liked to have gone in had no outdoor space so remained shut, but we managed to find a few that were open to keep us happy.  Another friend, Danny,  met us after work which was good.

Soho became largely pedestrianised after 5 but by then it was beginning to get cold.  We managed to brave it till around 8:30 but decided to call it as it wasn't much fun holding onto a cold pint shivering in the shade.

Cold drinks

 A bunch of us went round a friend's house last night for drinks in his garden.  It was fucking freezing.  I think BBC said it was down to -2 last night.  Brrrr....

Luckily he had a firepit that took most of the edge off but walking back to his house for toilet breaks was freezing.  It can't have been that bad though as I brought a large coat and scarf to put on after the sun went down and didn't end up using it.

Lunch at the Ivy House

Pub / restaurant gardens are open so why not make the most of it.

Lovely walks

We're very lucky living in Tonbridge.  There are lots of walks to go on.  This one is Dean Park, basically a big wood with paths stretched across and around it.

Flo's getting better on the longer walks, she only complained once on Sunday and usually has to be bribed with snacks.  Arthur is getting very heavy though so not sure how long I can carry him like this for.  I might need to get myself some snack motivation.

Sad news

So... 

I've been umming and arring about whether or not to write this but here it is anyway.

I had some sad news a couple of weeks ago.  My mum has died.  Roslin Witt (Bean, Clark).

I had a call from my brother saying that my mum had taken a turn for the worse.  She has been in and out of hospital for a couple of years now and this was one of her 'in' times.  My Aunty Diane who is a nurse had been to see my mum in hospital and called Steve straight away to tell us that we'd better get up to see her.

We both left more or less straight away and arrived at Kettering General at 5pm on Thursday (8th).  It took us a little while to find the department but when we got there my aunty and her daughter (midwife) were just leaving.  I hadn't seen my cousin in years so I didn't even recognise her.

We were shown in and although we were prepared for the worse it still didn't help with the shock.  Although not well when I last spoke to her a couple of weeks ago, her deterioration was severe.  She was very frail and i'm not even sure she recognised us.  It was tough for us both and we talked about what we'd been up to but my mum couldn't really talk, all we got back were a few moans and the occasional odd word.  It was clear that she was in pain so we managed to get a nurse to provide her with some relief, the nurse had to help her as she was unable to do it by herself.

After an hour and a half we kissed her goodbye and left.  That was the last time I saw my mum.

The next day at around 9 I received a call from my brother telling me that she'd passed away.  After seeing her the day before I was prepared for it.  And i'm glad that her suffering wasn't prolonged.

Work's been good about it and friends have been great but there's nothing anybody can do really.

I told Florence on Sunday and she could tell that I was sad, but don't think she got the finality of it all.  

Not what I had planned

 April was ill and to be better safe than sorry got covid19 tested.  That meant that the whole house had to safe isolate, so I had to take a parental day off (not great timing as things are beginning to pick up) to look after the kids.

Flo lasted 30 mins of constant questions before asking for something else on.

Who's that guy, what's he riding, who's that guy (the same guy), where are they?  

Flo was great and really helped out, otherwise it could have been a very long day.  Fortunately two of our friends were off too so were able to take Arwen out for a couple of walks.

Friend visit

Cold meet with Shaheen and family

Arwen got too excited so had to stay downstairs for part of it.

She mostly listened from the cat flap.

 

Looks like we might need to buy one of these

 Flo had a great time round my brothers on Sunday, we had a lovely easter egg hunt in the morning and some outdoor lunch.  Flo had great fun playing with everyone, especially on their new trampoline.

The dogs had fun too although at times the excitement got the better of them both and poor Bobler had to have a timeout indoors.

At it again

 Those cheeky guys at SI are at it again.  Very nearly had me, or at least for 3 seconds.  I clicked on the accept button anyway.