Flashbacks

 I didn't imagine I could feel as tense as I did when I saw a big van reversing towards the car I was a passenger in. I was a sitting duck in the Tesco carpark in Wolverton when a car reversed into my car last August and once again I was in another Tesco carpark  - this time in Manchester. The overwhelming feeling is of having no control. You see something moving towards you and there is literally nowhere to go. Panic over. This time there was not one scratch from the encounter. The only scars remain in my mind and they run deeper than I imagined. I had flashbacks. 

Storm Claudia ravaged Britain this week and I had the unfortunate experience of driving down the M1 in the dark in the rain. The large lorries send out a grubby mist that reduces vision to almost nothing and there is no way you can avoid this once you are on the motorway. It is quite scary at times. I popped up to visit Anita in her beautiful new home. It overlooks the hills in Sheffield and despite the awful weather I appreciated the view through a heavy downpour. It wasn't really a good time to get out and about so we only managed a trip to the pub and a game of chess or two. Fun nevertheless.

Medicinal tipples

Recalling my travels makes it feel like my week was packed. Most of it was spent at home where I felt sorry for myself. My first winter cold hit home on Monday good and proper. My week went by in a haze. I my heavy winter cold developed rapidly which knocked me sideways. For most of the time, all I wanted to do was lie on my sofa. I just couldn't get going. On the upside, my long running intermittent earache disappeared overnight just as the cold evolved. I haven't functioned well all week. I went to make a broccoli pasta for my grand daughters - I got spinach out of the freezer so it wasn't what it was meant to be. Silly me. Life doesn't stop even when you have grand children who need to be fed. Again, I had flashbacks to when I was a Mum. Life doesn't stop when you are sick when children are around. 

This week I emptied a bottle of paper cow, had evening hot toddies as well as Lemsips. I treated my myself to anything and everything that could zap the cold. Finally it has loosened up and I am now in the end stage where my nose is a constant dripping tap. Even my evening with large G&Ts and red wine didn't completely kill off the germs. 

So from visiting my cousins in Watford, to a short visit in Sheffield, I went on to a weekend's tennis in Nottingham. Fortunately it was indoors. Amazingly it's Sunday and I'm still standing. I'm almost ready to face the next week with full energy and zest. 

Mrs Armitage on Wheels

 

Maiden voyage

Ever since Danielle got the cycling bug she has been spending money on bike "improvements" just like Mrs Armitage. The latest addition is a child seat on the crossbar. This is a complex little number that needed considerable patience to attach to the bike as the instructions bore no relationship to what needed to be done. When Sammi was little, I had little more than a wooden plank strapped to the crossbar and another for his feet. He held onto the handlebars and I pedalled. Danielle's choice has wrap-around foam-clad bars to hold her in. 

When Danielle was little, I had a seat on the back of my bike for her. That seat was little more than a glorified metal basket which she sat in. The worst of it was that she would fall asleep and slump to one side while I cycled. At least that was an improvement on what my father said he had. Apparently his big brother, my Uncle Maurice, roped him onto the back of his bike to cycle him to the farm. This was in the 1920s. Today, this would be seen as cruelty - I am sure he would be reported for maltreatment in this day and age.  

Teamwork - cleaning and fixing

Danielle's new attachment is a step up from the second-hand trailer which she bought to get Ezra-Mae to the village school. Now that four-year-old Ezra-Mae makes her way two miles up the tow path to school on her own bike, Danielle feels she can shed the trailer for all but the wettest days and plonk Mattaya on the crossbar. Danielle has bought suitable waterproofs too. Like Mrs Armitage on Wheels, there will probably be other additions to the bike!

I am proud of Danielle for embracing this new, energetic lifestyle. She says she feels much better for it too. I can imagine her cycling along and thinking aloud, "What this bike needs is..." I am also proud of my son, Sam. He found out this week that he has won an award for his dissertation. I was impressed when I read it but then I should be as I am his mother. He won an award on his graduation from St. Andrews but I can't remember what that was for - just to say - he must really embrace the academic life. Well done!

On Monday morning, my week turned upside down, I had an sms from the hospital to say I had an appointment to have my heel done. This procedure was not to be as dramatic as the right heel op that I had last February. All I needed was a little steroid injection. So, having read the message, I spent a good deal of time cancelling things in anticipation. All went well and now I can move so much easier - just a few tweaks of pain since the anaesthetic wore off. It is tempting to go full pelt but I have to take it easy because there is a small chance of my tendon rupturing. This procedure only took thirty minutes but organising it must have taken more than that time. I had four different appointment times arranged and cancelled. I made loads of phone calls, needed extra painkillers on prescription - wasted time and money! 

And so to the greater world beyond in a week when we wear poppies and remember those who gave their lives to make our world a better place. It has been reported that Israel has been burning ancient olive trees that are the livelihood of Palestinians. Why? Do they think this will bring about peace - not likely. Meanwhile, the IDF are bombing southern Lebanon - Again, why? It is not so much that Israel commits these atrocities, it is that this aggression and abuse to their neighbours seems acceptable behaviour to the rest of the world. This country, Israel, is making the pariah Taliban look like pussycats. Our world is skewed - we have lost sight of who the good guys are. And so, we have prayed for peace but we expect nothing more than accept that Israel will carry on killing with impunity. 

Milestones

Naser holding his book

The BIG news this week was that the books got delivered. There is nothing quite like holding a book that you have written. I spent quite a while stroking them while feeling very smug. That feeling has now warn off - I now have that Boxing Day feeling that it is all downhill from here. At least I got to have that moment. I am seriously thinking of writing another book. I enjoyed the process and the way it takes over your waking moments. I have now come to the feeling that I understand publishing so much better now so I can be much more proactive in my choices. Ironically, at the same time as getting a hard copy in my hand, I was getting reviews from friends who had already read the book on Kindle. That too has been rewarding - I think it is knowing that my efforts were worthwhile and others found joy reading what I had written. 

Woohoo. Books

There have been other big moments for me this week. My four-year-old grand daughter, Ezra-Mae cycled the two miles along the canal to my place. This is all the more remarkable for her pedalling a bike that is too small for her so her knees nudged her elbows. For future rides. I need to instil into her that the upper toe part of shoes are not brakes! Nonetheless, her first trip went without incident and inspired Danielle to buy her a bigger bike so she can cycle to school while Mattaya sits in the trailer. Pedal power is in our genes. I am so proud of her. 

Ezra-Mae on her new bike

On another front, I heard that this week fifty years ago Bohemian Rhapsody was released. It is a song that has endured generations. I remember thinking how little things had changed when I saw Sammi and his friends at their university graduation party singing along to the song just like I did when I was at uni. Meanwhile Ezra-Mae asks Alexa to play Irish Rover so we have to do a jig and sing along. We also dance to "I am a Robot" - all rather sophisticated stuff! She has already started singing Christmas Carols while cycling so Christmas is upon us! Who would have thought it? With time, I'll get her to learn to like Queen - Mama!!

Halloween almost passed me by. Diane and Jeremy came over for dinner and I planned to pop round to the party at my local pub. Unfortunately I knowingly ate something with soya in because I thought a tiny bit wouldn't hurt but it did. Oh boy, I was going nowhere. At least I got to see a luminous pumpkin wearing a witch's hat leading the aqua fit while I was doing my lengths at the local pool - my Halloween experience 2025! That was a sight to behold. 

Liz and Ollie

Autumn is truly upon us. The tree in my back garden is nearly bare and the leaves that are left on the tree are yellowy-orange. Even so, it is remarkably mild for this time of year so yesterday's walk with Liz, and Ollie the dog, was unusually mud free when you'd expect the towpath to be a bit slippy. So with mixed blessings I know we are sliding towards wintertime in anticipation of bare branches and muddy boots. It is bound to be just round the corner.