Mud & Mischief

Learn the Rules so you know how to break them properly.
–HH the Dalai Lama

RJ has found his feet.

This is a metaphor as he’s been walking for a couple of months now. But the last few days he’s developed a streak of bloody-minded impishnes that is shortly going to become outright devilry and is driving me to distraction.

His favouritest game ever is to empty the cupboards. Not too bad, until you realise he’s emptying them into the bin. I just sat and watched him as he took, one by one, a large can of Pledge, a big squeezy tube of some car cleaning stuff, a bottle of Dettol, a new packet of dishclothes and dropped them into the bin. As fast as I was taking things out he was scampering back to the cupboard for something else.

I gave him his cup to distract him. He took a big glug - and threw it in the bin. I retrieved the cup, put it on the table and sellotaped the bin lid shut. He managed to reach the cup, took a drink then shook it all over himself and the floor. I removed the cup again, and he sat down in the puddle he’d just made and paddled in it.

Earlier, we were in the living room. He got behind the sofa and onto the windowsill (it’s low and wide). And fell off just missing braining himself on the table. Yesterday he strewed the contents of the pepper plants all over the floor. So they got repotted.

I wedged cushions in the gaps between the sofas to stop him. He somehow managed to get behind the armchair (about 6″ of space) and onto the window ledge again.

He’s destroying the place. He finds the most damaging things to play with. Right this second, he’s jousting with one of those stupid skipping bars, with a hoop at one end and a ball thing that flashes at the other. It’s nearly as tall as he is. Ok, scratch that, he’s decided to empty the plastic drawers I keep all the nappies, wipes, liners etc in. I’ve not been able to do a thing today. If he’s in the same room, he wants picking up. He’s discovered that if he toddles towards someone with a big grin and his arms in the air, everyone goes ‘ahhh’ and picks him up.

But once he’s up, it increases the range of his predations - he can reach counter tops now!

I’m absolutely knackered. Got back from the school run and walked them all up to the park at Kings Wood. The wind was phenomenal, and even the dog seemed to enjoy being blown around. RJ tear-arsed around the place like some kind of thing possessed, and didn’t object to getting blown over at intervals. He loves the swing. I had hoped it would tire him out, but as the last ten minutes have shown, it didn’t.

He’s contained for the minute, strapped into his highchair and munching on a nutritious selection of sultanas and bread and butter.

I’m going to have a cup of tea.

Lists of 100

I found this going round in circles today, not sure how or why… but it looks like a good thing to do. I’m tackling this odd stress/depression nonsense head on, and I figure therapeutic writing is the key. Seeing as how I write lots anyway, I may as well put it to some good use.

Not sure if I’ll be sharing any of those lists, but who knows, I guess it all depends on what kind of flotsam washes up on the beach of my inner mind.

The Meaning of Liff

But don’t go there if you don’t have half an hour to spend chuckling to yourself. And definitely avoid the place if you’re at work/being watched or somewhere random giggles can get you into trouble.

Probably a good one for Dad, Peter and Sarah to have a browse around.

It’s been a pretty good half term, all things considered.

Monday started off the week on an excellent note, as Bronwen and her tribe of five came to visit for the day and we had a lovely time. We ate sushi and the kids scoffed home made bread and generally ran amok. Nine kids and they were brilliantly behaved - we hardly heard them a lot of the time.

Tuesday and it was off to a toddler group meet up at the local soft play. I say local, it’s about 13 miles away, but it’s the only decent one anywhere near here. I really much look into opening one up a bit closer to home… But the girls all had a blast and Robin discovered the toddler area. Was a much needed day out for grown up conversation and to catch up with a bunch of friends that I feel that I’ve lost contact with as of late. I gave one friend a lift and spent another hour at her house drinking tea, so didn’t get home until gone 4pm. Good day.

Wednesday was an ‘at home’ day, where I tried to catch up on laundry etc. Almost succeeded too.

Thursday, Valentine’s Day, James was rushed off his feet, but we went to Sarah’s instead. Came home via Lembas to pick up rice milk and porridge oats and flour.

Today, Sarah came here with her two, and we were joined by Nikki and her two youngest. Sarah’s eldest Dino cleaned out my chooks for me too, so that was hugely appreciated

So, two parties tomorrow, one each for Tea and Piglet; my bestest oldest friend is coming up from Birmingham with her three (soon to be four) and James has decided to take the day off. Thank goodness for that!

School on Monday *:sigh:* Oh well, just four weeks until Easter after that, as it’s ridiculously early this year.

I do this Beliefnet Quiz from time to time, as I take the view that our opinions and beliefs are not a static thing, but change and grow and develop over time. My results were:

1. Neo-Pagan (100%)
2. New Age (90%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (84%)
4. Mahayana Buddhism (81%)
5. Liberal Quakers (79%)

Which is quite funny, as although I’m very much the first two, I am extremely interested in the other three. I’ve got books on Buddhism, the Quakers and have read up on the UUs as there’s actually a ‘free church’ in Doncaster that I’ve toyed with the idea of going to.

Interesting stuff…

Well, I went back to the docs (after seeing her a couple of weeks ago for something minor) and had a good talk. In fact, I had such a good talk that she gave me a severe bollocking for not coming to see her sooner and another one when she recalled I had been to see her and had left out 80% of the story, and yet another one for not taking my pain killers regularly enough, and she’s running a bunch of blood tests, and I have to go back to see her in a week. She wants to rule out a whole heap of things, the first being hypothyroidism. Trying saying that after a beer or six.

Upshot is, apparently I’m very stressed and extremely depressed. *snort*

I don’t have time to be depressed, I told her and got the raised eyebrow in response. Ho hum.

She did answer my questions about why I’m too young to operate on. It’s a painful, risky operation with a long recovery time that would just have to be repeated inside of five years as these disc things are recurring, and also there’s a risk of it turning me into a quadriplegic. Why didn’t the stupid registrar just say that in the first place??? No surgery today, ta ever so.

I’m allowed to walk and swim, but not run. I also have to lose weight - the only place I carry fat is around my belly and apparently that puts stress on the vertebrae, which kind of makes sense. Time to dig out the old Slimming world books.

It’s half term and James doesn’t have any time off as it’s Valentine’s Day on Thursday. And the weather is absolutely perfect for going and digging the lottie and I can’t.

My house looks like a bomb’s gone off as I can’t pick up anything from the floor.

And I’ve got writer’s block, which is driving me nuts.

What a great day we’ve had. Spent five hours at Garden Organic Ryton at the Potato Day. We got there at 10.30 and had to park in an ‘overflow’ carpark, which was really nothing more than the farmer’s wheat field opposite the main carpark.

The main potato tent was absolutely heaving, but I scrummaged my way through and emerged triumphant with a whole heap of fab sounding seed potatoes:

Witchhill
Winston
Organic Premiere
Salad Blue
Wilja
British Queen
Shetland Black
Pentland Ivory
Golden Wonder
Highland Burgandy Red

I can’t find a description for Pentland Ivory, and I’d never heard of them, but they were highly recommended by a lady I got chatting to and I decided half a dozen tuber would be an interesting experiment.

We had a lovely, if slightly expensive, early lunch in the Restaurant there. Absolutely everything is organic and there’s nothing limited about the food and drink on offer there. Then we went into the Heritage Seed Library tent and I did the seed swap thing and got some great new varieties of beans and a couple of winter squash, leek, kale and sprouting broccoli. Took the kids into the children’s area and did potato printing (what else? ) used some magic maize, went digging for potatoes in a big sand pit soil, cut up egg boxes to chit more potatoes - got to bring some Sarpo Mira home for nowt. The highlight of the day for them, though, had to be a set of original Spud Guns. I found them first, mind and the educational lady that was supervising had a good giggle when I pounced on them with much glee and giggling. We all had a great time.

Then we had to pause for tea and scones, before making out way out through the shop, of course. I left Mom and the kids by the doors and went to retrieve the day van from the field. Which by this point had become a quagmire. Luckily, there were two little tractors doing sterling duty hauling cars out of the mud so I got a very ignominious backwards tow out of the field - the van doesn’t have a front towing eye! Oh I miss my Land Rover…

Got home to find my lovely brother had made a roast chicken dinner, watched Shrek 3, fed the kids, watched the rugby and now it’s all quiet, small ones are asleep and I can start drawing up my allotment plan.