Birthdays, et al

As the year starts to draw to an end, it isn’t getting any cooler. We are having mainly sunny days which start off warm and then get hot. There has been the odd cooler few hours, and a short heavy shower one night, but other than that summer seems to be getting into gear.

Nicky has been home all week. Initially this was because she had taken Tuesday off for her birthday, and Saturday off for BHB Quilters, but on Tuesday afternoon she started to feel unwell so had to call in sick for the rest of the week. She saw Dr V on Saturday who diagnosed an upper respiratory tract infection, prescribed a range of medicaments, and signed her off until the 20th.

On Monday Nicky needed to go into town for an Emergency Response Group meet & greet, and I had had to go and see a customer in Epsom, so I planned to pick Nicky up in town and then for us to head off to Devonport to have a look at the Tony Ogle exhibition in Devonport. However, our plans had to change when I received and email from one of my elderly customers asking me to pick up her cheque book from her husband and bring it to her in the hospital (her husband was no longer well enough to travel). So, I picked up said fiscal instrument before going to Epsom then appraised Nicky of the situation when we met in town. Hospital was the next stop and my suspicion that the requirement of the cheque book meant some technical issues needed to be sorted turned out to be correct. Once done, we headed home for a late lunch before going to Devonport and enjoying the exhibition. We called in on Letty for a couple of hours and had a very good chat. By the time we got home it was cool enough to have cheese on toast on The Rattigan. I thought having a trip into hospital was quite an interesting way of celebrating Claire’s birthday, but there again so was the cheese on toast!

Nicky was into a good book on Monday evening so the transition from Claire’s birthday to her birthday was very smooth. Around 1am I woke to find lights on and my wife not in bed, and myself in need of a cup of tea. It just so happened that Nicky was just coming the end of a chapter and a cup of tea would be most welcome, and even more so if it had a piece of birthday day on the side. So at around 1.30am the cheese cake was extracted from the tin and a candle was added and a song sung and slices cut. It turned out well:

Sustained, Nicky finished the book, and managed a couple of hours sleep before present opening and picnic making. We headed off to the Botanical Gardens first for breakfast (very good, Nicky had a Gardner’s which was smoked and fresh salmon and veg and salad, and I had the more traditional offering), and then to do the sculpture tour:

By the time we had finished the tour, we were hot and jaded and decided to have our picnic lunch at home. Dawn came over for an afternoon cup of tea and cake, which we later followed with dinner on The Rattigan and more cake and TV.

Early on Wednesday morning I took Nicky over to Henderson so that she could deliver scones and goodies for the staff morning tea to celebrate her birthday and 10 years service, even though she wasn’t going to be their (apparently it was greatly enjoyed). When we got back I went up to Walkworth to collect an iMac and then did the shopping. Nicky spent most of the day pottering. She found walking to and from Doris’s (hairdresser) on Thursday exhausting so was pleased not to be going into work. I was also a little jaded after being woken by a pair of hedgehogs snuffling very loudly in the garden in the middle of the night. In the evening I hosted my last Deep and Meaningful of the year and got well bitten by mossies outside a bar where we had a drink after the meet-up.

Friday was a cooler morning so Nicky took the opportunity to deliver her share of church Christmas cards. While she was out I received news that the husband of my hospitalised customer had died.

As some of my older bites had started to blister and I couldn’t get an appointment with our GP we went of to the White Cross in Avondale. They dressed them to protect them and gave me some oral antihistamine. We watched Silent Witness in the evening.

Nicky had her trip to the Doc on Saturday morning and then was off to quilting where they had a very good but tiring day. Much food was brought and consumed but it was a good way end end another good year. Everybody seems to appreciate the effort that Nicky and Mary have gone to to establish the group, which has now completed its fourth year. In the evening she was very tired so I watched Bridge of Spies largely on my own.

Even though today started out lovely again, I didn’t go to the beach while Nicky was at church as I am under instruction to keep my dressings dry. Nicky had a better night’s sleep and brought Jan, Helen and Warwick back for tea, coffee and to finish off her birthday cake. After a light lunch we went up to Birkenhead for afternoon tea with Maria (friend of mine from D&M) who is a stunningly good cook. She gave us home made lemon ice cream with lemon curd ripple and a date and ginger slice. All gorgeous, and we had a good chat too. On our return Nicky set about mowing the lawn and doing some gardening before going down to the beach for the carol singing and 50’s rock and roll.

Quite a bitter-sweet birthday week all in all.

Take care, Rick